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> ‘ 
HISTORY — “Socio seus?” 
: Sing ICAL SE ee 4 


OF THE 


EVANGELIGAL 
LUTHERAN SYNOD 


OF 


WEST PENNSYLVANIA 


OF THE 


UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 
IN AMERICA 


Loeb as gal O25 


EDITED BY 


ADAM STUMP, D.D. 
AND 


HENRY ANSTADT, D.D. 





PUBLISHED BY AGEION OR EEHEESYNOD 
IN CELEBRATION OF ITS CENTENNIAL 





PRINTED FOR THE SYNOD 


Ja Re KERR comet? 
CHAMBERSBURG, PENNA. 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in-2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https //archive.org/details/historyofevangel0O0gene 


Introduction 


The 19th. Century, during the earlier years of which our 
Synod was organized, is preeminent in material, civil and _ relig- 
ious progress. The inventions, discoveries and marvelous changes 
during its course are almost innumerable and, in the main, in- 
calculable in their beneficial influence on the welfare of mankind. 
It has been called ‘‘The Missionary Century of the Christian 
Era.”’ More ministers and missionaries have preached the Gospel 
to more people, in more languages, and more disciples have been 
won than during any previous century; some claim than during 
all previous centuries. If not as intensive, perchance, as during 
the first Christian century, its operations have been far more 
extensive. Vastly more money has been expended for the support 
and extension of the church, the founding and maintaining of 
educational, missionary and eleemosynary institutions than ever 
before, besides carrying on manifold agencies that have for their 
object the physical welfare and mental and moral uplift of hu- 
manity. 

Handicapped as our Synod was at its beginning by many 
adverse environments, its limited means, its twenty-nine ministers 
an utterly inadequate number to minister to its congregations 
scattered over a territory extending from the Susquehanna river 
to the western boundary of our state, slow and difficult traveling, 
it would be unfair, except from motives of gratitude, to show the 
contrast between the activities and results of those early years 
and the showing of our Synod in the last year of the century, 
with its vastly increased advantages, opportunities and means. 
The arduous labors and self-denying spirit of our pioneers must not 
be forgotten nor lightly esteemed. We, with our abundant re- 
sources, feature our Synod’s Centennial by raising a $50,000 
Endowment Fund as our part in the celebration of the Centenary 
of our Theological Seminary; the Seminary which they in their 
poverty aided in founding and supporting during its early strug- 
gles; an Institution to which our Synod owes so much for its 
progress and influence. 


Their day was the day of relatively small things; but the 
leaders were not small men. They were men of wisdom and fore- 
sight. They realized that the Seminary they had seen established 
in 1826, the first year of their synodical existence, could do its 
best preparation only as its students had a preparation for the 
Seminary. So the absolute need of a college prompted these men 


3 


4 INTRODUCTION 


in co-operation with others, to establish Pennsylvania College in 
1832, just six years after the Synod was organized. They also 
took part in the earlier efforts for organized Home and Foreign 
Missions and other benevolent enterprises. All honor to these 
noble predecessors of ours! 

In the spirit of these worthy pioneers our Synod has carried 
forward the work and steadily advanced in Christian activities, 
as the following figures for our centennial year evidence: 

Number of ministers on the roll, 109; congregations, 158; 
confirmed membership, 40,613; contributions for missions, benevo- 
lence and education, $155,011; local objects, $553,961; value of 
church property, $4,670,037. 

This was accomplished on our present greatly reduced ter- 
ritory. 

The three Synods organized on the larger portion of our 
original territory exceed our totals accordingly, and show their 
combined totals for 1923, as follows: number of ministers enrolled, 
379; congregations, 543; confirmed membership, 111,761; benevo- 
lence, $520,357; local objects, $1,611,690; value of church property, 
tibia 2222) 

Division of territory then was wise, a move evidently guided 
by Providence. It made tenser cultivation possible and resulted 
in the greater advancement of God’s kingdom. 

To-day the trend among ecclesiastical bodies is toward merg- 
ing, and this also is manifestly according to God’s will and under 
His divine guidance. Thus felt the three General Bodies which 
in 1918 merged to form the United Lutheran Church in America. 
as we learn from the opening sentences of the Mintues of its first 
Convention: “‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the 
city of our God, in the mountain of His Holiness.” ‘By the 
providence of God, in answer to the longings and prayers of many 
hearts, the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
the United States, the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in North America and the United Synod of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church in the South, each and all took action favorable 
to merging their Bodies into The United Lutheran Church in 
America.” No weightier commendation could have been be- 
stowed on the Merger than that given in the introduction to his 
sermon at the first Convention of the United Lutheran Church, 
by that grand man and eminent theologian, the Rev. Dr. H. E. 
Jacobs. He said; ‘‘Unto the Triune God, the Father, the Son and 
the Holy Ghost, be thanksgiving and praise for “The United 
Lutheran Church in America.’ ‘It is the Lord’s doing; it is 
marvelous in our eyes.’ We have met in response to an over- 
Whelming conviction, kindled by God’s Spirit, that ‘what God 
hath joined together, let not man put asunder.’ ”’ 

It is a matter for congratulation and gratitude that our Synod, 
which has seen too many unseemly and unholy contentions among 


INTRODUCTION 5 


its own ministers and congregations and among other Synods and 
General Bodies, can hail that spirit of fraternity that now char- 
acterizes this and other Synods and makes possible their harmo- 
nious association and united co-operation in the United Lutheran 
Church. That united Body has already received greater recog- 
nition and exerted a wider influence than the three dissevered 
Bodies could ever. have received or exerted. 

Our Synod’s history illustrates the fact that spirituality in 


the church manifests itself in a variety of Ways; now in increased 
effort for the conversion of the unsaved; now in increased interest 
in missions; now in a quickened membership; now in special in- 
terest in the young people and children; now in the organization 
of auxiliary societies; now in works of char ity; now in attendance 
at public worship; now in better methods of church financing; 
now in the erection and improvement of church buildings and 
adequate support of pastors; now in fostering educational and 
other institutions; now in the calling and training of young men 
for the ministry and providing relief for retired ministers, and, as 
in recent years, the cultivation of brotherly love and union of 
effort; and this, not by the exclusion or neglect of all or any one 
of the other activities at one and the same time, but by stressing 
each activity for the time being as Providence indicates. Thus 
our Synod shows, not a disproportionate record of progress along 
any one line, but well- balanced efforts along all the lines of Christian 
activity. 


The publication of Synodical histories 1s becoming more 
general and their value is increasingly appreciated as time passes. 
Our Synod can congratulate itself on possessing in permanent 
form the record of its first century. 


However, for a Synod as large and active as ours, a century 
is too long to postpone the publication of its history. During so 
long a period much of historic value is lost. A semi-centennial 
history would to a great extent prevent such loss and serve in- 
termediate generations better. 

To our Editors, by whom the patient and painstaking work 
of gathering and preparing the matter contained in our History 
was done, the present and future ministers and members of our 
Synod owe a lasting debt of gratitude. 

To the great HEAD OF THE CHURCH be praise and 
thanksgiving for His wonderful goodness and favor to us through- 


out the entire century. 
A. G. Fastnacht 


“Other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” 
SONI OO: 


PREFACE 


A century of history is a long period out of which to gather 
the events of interest and importance and compress them within 
the narrow limits of a few hundred pages. The stream of progress, 
starting with the little springs of circumstances that explain the 
origin of our West Pennsylvania Synod, has accumulated to itself 
ever larger volume of flow and force of current as rivulets of home 
mission organizations and branches of greater general Christian 
service have joined the main river; and even though a delta of 
four divisions of the original stream describes its present flow, 
each division exceeds the volume of the original as it pours its 
current today into the infinite ocean of the rolling future. The 
course of the West Pennsylvania Synod’s history has drained a 
large territory,—that “West of the Susquehannah, in the State 
of Pennsylvania,’’ including three districts: ‘‘the North Mountain 
the boundary of the first district,—the clergy living between the 
North Mountain and the western boundary of the State, belonging 
to the second district,—and those living between the Juniata and 
the west side of the Susquehannah constituting the third dis- 
trict.” The Allegheny Synod branched off from the main stream 
September 9, 1842; the Pittsburgh Synod, January 15, 1845; and 
the Central Pennsylvania Synod, February 21, 1855, which on 
September 5, 1923, merged with the Susquehannah Synod under 
the name of the Susquehannah Synod of Central Pennsylvania. 

Unfortunately, the importance of history is seldom fully ap- 
preciated in the actual making of it. Fifty years ago a resolution 
of the Synod requested each minister connected with the Synod 
carefully to prepare the history of the church or churches under 
his pastoral care, and that these be transmitted to the curator 
of the Lutheran Historical Library at Gettysburg; but the re- 
port of the following year showed that it had been only “‘complied 
with in part.’ Some years later, in 1890, a committee was ap- 
pointed to prepare ‘“‘a plan for a History of Lutheran Church in 
the Bounds of this Synod,” and the following year Prof. E. 8. 
Breidenbaugh was elected Synodical Historian. The plan pre- 
pared by the committee outlined a very thorough presentation of 
the Synod’s progress, and the patient efforts of the Historian 
extended over a period of six or seven years; but his report in 
1897, “That the completion of the work is deferred by a number 
of the congregational histories not having been handed in as yet,”’ 
indicates the failure of the effort to have been on account of lack 
of necessary co-operation. This same tendency to underestimate 
the importance of recording history while it is actually in the 
making has been the complaint of many of our present pastors of 
the Synod, a large proportion of whom in submitting the histories 


7 


8 PREFACE 


of their congregations declared they were greatly handicapped by 
the very meager and sometimes utter lack of original records. 

The undertaking that has culminated in the publication of 
this volume began with the recommendation of the President, 
Rev. F. G. Gotwald, D. D., in his report of 1917, ‘““That a special 
committee be appointed to arrange for the presentation and pub-, 
lication of a complete history of the West Pennsylvania Synod in 
connection with the celebration of its Centennial in 1925.” The 
Synod was fortunate in having a member who had been personally 
interested in collecting historical data of a number of the congre- 
gations of the Synod, the Rev. Adam Stump, D.D. He was 
elected general editor by the committee in 1919, and immediately 
took up the study of early Pennsylvania Lutheranism. Not- 
withstanding an extended period of illness, which ended in his 
death March 15, 1922, he succeeded in preparing the manuscript 
of the pioneer period leading up to the organization and first 
meeting of the Synod in September, 1825, (pp. 11-93.) 

With much hesitation the present writer, upon his appoint- 
ment by the committee and the Synod, consented in 1923 to 
undertake the completion of Dr. Stump’s task, and with the co- 
operation of the pastors has been enabled to present this published 
volume. 

For the historical sketches of the congregations he has been 
dependent necessarily upon the pasters, who almost without excep- 
tion have furnished this material. It is interesting to note that 
two congregations, St. Matthew’s of Hanover, and Christ Lutheran 
of York, lay claim to the distinction of being the first organization. 
In justice to both, these claims are published just as the pastors 
of these congregations have presented them; and while Dr. Stump 
in his chapters of the early history expresses his personal judgment 
concerning the claim of priority, each reader is privileged to weigh 
the evidence presented and form his own conclusions. 

The printed Minutes of the Synod furnished largely the facts 
concerning Education, Missionary Activity, Literature, etc., ete. 
The Editor has consulted also many other volumes of Lutheran 
biography and history such as the writings of Drs. J. G. Morris, 
EK. J. Wolf, H. E. Jacobs, L. B. Wolf, A. R. Wentz, C. M. Jacobs, 
P. Anstadt and others, and compared the published histories of 
the Allegheny and Maryland Synods in order to harmonize facts 
of overlapping interests and activities. 

With appreciation of the co-operation that has made it pos- 
sible for the Editor finally to bring his work to completion, and 
recognizing also the limitations not only in himself but also in 
the sources of historical information, this book is sent forth. If 
this brief record of the first hundred years can stimulate the 
churches of the Synod to a new pride and activity in the making 
of future history, the effort will have been worth while. 

Henry Anstadt 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


LNGTOCUCTION ese metals ri 21 ee ee eet en 3 


EOLA COL ssiwS age ACen he cp Ue On ee ANC as ree em El LA Bec AE 7 


Chapter I.—From the First Missionary to the First Synod.. 11 


Chapter l= line HirstaViissionaiyss ape iy ttle sie ey 24 
Shape! [elihes Hinetesy OC em cele tae rene rites te 43 
Ghapter LV: + EKoretokens of Verritomal) Divisions. 6. = -. of 
Chapter V. Some More Preliminary History............. | 58 
Ghapterav le eopecial on District Meéetings.. oes 2s: 2.40. |: 68 
CHa dis AVIBR a Oreutnap bat none ee SR ee Se el Be Re aa 
Chapter VIII. The First Meeting of the West Pennsylvania 

DS VNLOCL st Mpatales We eer gon) srhtone iy iergaet« Leaprhinshe Saad Sorbiotieing, 10a fee re 84 
Can tebien es 3 OUD ST1eSi aw) ae age eee echelon hy al 91 
Gira ler Ne ee VLISSTONA EY 7s CLEVE Gymnast hie fas eerln ee ress oer 94 
(Ra tere Ns eee CUICALION woe tne aig eco in so: arate ree eens Lene 107 
(Siiatere cL a meliteraturenn. as yeti wee en eine to 121 
Giaptenux | aelicensées and Ordinationsss | ae eee ere 125 
Cieptcre Lvs mb astOrs a NdeeaclOla lesa yianier ier een 131 
Ghapteney = mvlinisters: without larces.] amen ee ce 150 
han LereNevel aN dais. COUnGys COlleTen Com nase ane ita ar. 193 
Chapter XVII. Cumberland Valley Conterence............ 289 
Giaptemeay.| aw sy orkt@ountysConicrence: | arenweh een 44] 


9 


10 


History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 





By KELLER 


First Treasurer of the West Pennsylvania 


REV. 


(ROE, aR Les MOSUL DIR ADE ADy: 


Synod. 


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ent of the West Pennsyly 
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CHAPTER I. 
THE FIRST PERIOD 


Synodus occiduus plantandus est. 
FRoM THE First MISSIONARY TO THE FIRST SYNOD 


1728-1748 


The roots of the present are imbedded in the past. It is 
the duty of history to trace and uncover them. The beginning 
of the Lutheran Church in the region that is now comprised in 
the Synod of West Pennsylvania is found in the arrival at Phila- 
delphia, September 11, 1728, of John Casper Stoever, Jr., a theo- . 
logical student twenty-one years of age. 

He anticipated by fourteen years Rev. Henry Melchior 
Muhlenberg, often styled the Patriarch of the Lutheran Church 
in America: However, there were already some workers in the 
kingdom here, even before 1728. The first Lutheran minister that 
came to North America was Rev. Reorus Torkillus, who minis- 
tered to several Swedish communities along the Delaware River 
(1639). The first Lutheran minister ordained in America was 
Rey. Justus Falkner (1703). 

That was the day of small things. The flocks were small and 
poor, isolated and scattered. Members of state churches, accus- 
tomed to depend upon paternal governments in their home lands, 
these German and Swedish Lutherans had never known the privi- 
lege and necessity of self-reliance and initiative. They became 
the prey of a number of renegade preachers from the old country, 
who sought to serve them for filthy lucre, and not for souls; and 
falsely pretending to be Lutherans, created distrust, disgust and 
bitterness. Among the immigrants also, there were many that 
came only to better their material interests and cared little for 
spiritual things. However, many, who had been persecuted for 
their faith and piety at home, brought with them their Bibles, 
hymnals and prayer-books, and their habits of private devotion. 
These kept the censers swinging and the altar-fires burning, at 
least at the hearth-stones of their humble cabins; and saved the 
church from being entirely ruined by the nondescript adventurers 
of the times. 

In 1728, in the lines of immigration, which then took a fresh 
start and converged toward our region, there were groups of 


VAL 


Pe History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Lutherans in Philadelphia, New Providence (Trappe), New Han- 
over, Raritan (New Jersey), and in Tulpehocken (now Lebanon 
Valley, Pa.); but in that early day there was no group nearer to 
our locality than Lancaster. 

When William Penn made his famous treaty with the Indians 
under the spreading boughs of the great elm at Shakamaxon, in 
1682, the Susquehanna River was the western boundary of our 
state. Although the first survey for the Penns on the hither side 
of the River was made in 1722, and the tract named Springetts- 
bury Manor, no genuine white settler was legally allowed to locate 
on the west bank before 1729. On the other side, Columbia was 
a small frontier village; on this side, all the country was an un- 
broken forest of hills and valleys, relieved here and there by an 
open treeless glade, which the Indians either accidentally or with 
intent, had bared by fire for hunting purposes or cornfields. 

Stoever, the student, who as yet had no authority to preach 
or to perform ministerial acts, took up his residence at Karltown, 
now New Holland, Lancaster County. He thus planted himself 
in that trough of valleys through which ran the Indian trail from 
Philadelphia to the Monocacy and the Ohio River hunting 
grounds, and which now became the route along which thousands 
of immigrants wended their way to take up homes in our region 
and beyond as far as Virginia. This was one of the most interest- 
ing and important treks of history. For years a constant stream 
of humanity crossed the Susquehanna at Columbia, where there 
was no ferry before 1730, then called Wright’s Ferry. The York 
Valley and the land about Hanover, then known as Digges’ Choice, 
under a Maryland grant, and claimed by that colony, seem to 
have been settled simultaneously. 

Under what circumstances the student of theology at Earl- 
town began to act as a minister to his fellow-countryvmen, no one 
ean tell. But it is not difficult to imagine the circumstances that 
impressed him into service. Children were to be baptized; the 
dead were to be buried; and many exiles were hungry and thirsty 
for the gospel. The likelihood is that he took up his residence at 
Earltown to pursue another vocation, but the calls for the service 
of a minister were so great that he soon was led to become a very 
active missionary amidst the Lutheran diaspora and other pious 
souls. He soon became an itinerant in the pioneer clearings be- 
tween the City of Brotherly Love and far-off Virginia. With only 
the foot-paths of the red man as the King’s highway, he threaded 
his way through the dense forests to distribute the bread of life 
from house to house in a strange new land. 

Up to 1728 but few whites had more than hunted game or 
prospected for ores in our woods; and not even a squatter had 
been allowed to build a log cabin and remain upon our soil. At 
least, there is no record of any that did. This territory was not 
included in the treaty which Wiliam Penn made with the Indians 


PIONEER LUTHERANS IN PENNSYLVANIA ie 


under the elm at Shakamaxon, in 1682. That part included only 
the lands situated between New York and Maryland, westward 
as far as the Susquehanna. But the notorious history of the 
whites is that they always have intruded upon the rights of the 
red man. If the case were reversed, he undoubtedly would have 
as much reason to consider us as brutal and bloodthirsty as we 
now consider him to have been. He has had cause for resentment 
and revenge. The Quaker government of the Penns religiously 
kept faith with the Indians. As a result it has often been said 
that no Quaker blood was ever shed by the red man. This state- 
ment, however, is not literally true, for, during the French and 
Indian War several families, who were followers of George Fox, 
were massacred. But for seventy years the Indians of Penn’s 
Woods were faithful to their bond with Father Onas. 

However, the fertile valleys of the Delaware, the Lehigh, and 
the Schuylkill, the Tulpehocken and the Conestoga soon were 
occupied by a horde of immigrants, who rushed across the sea to 
this land of promise, which veritably was flowing with milk and 
honey for the poor classes that sought it as an asylum from op- 
pression. Consequently, in a few years the pioneers Were driven 
for want of room up against the banks of the Susquehanna, and 
the restive people on the Lancaster side began to cast envious 
eyes toward the beautiful hills and continued valley on our side 
of the river. But ours was forbidden ground. It was sacred to 
the red man. But there were mineral seekers and nimrods of the 
chase, who observed neither proprieties nor conventions. To 
them a treaty was only a scrap of paper. They came across, 
scoured the woods and glades for copper and killed the game. In 
those days forage was scarce, and so farmers and traders forded 
the mile-wide stream with their horses, to let them graze in the 
meadows of the frontier. This naturally brought a protest from 
the native chiefs to the authorities at Philadelphia. Under similar 
conditions, in other days, such intrusion often was resented in 
less civilized fashion. But the Quaker government gave an at- 
tentive ear to the red man’s remonstrance. 

This was done at the Council of Conestoga, in Lancaster 
County, July 6-8, 1721, the date on which the “lands on the 
south side of the river’’ were first officially brought upon the stage 
of authentic history. It was an irenic arbitration meeting. The 
Indians of Virginia and those of Pennsylvania had come into 
collision on the banks of the Potomac. Both claimed the same 
hunting grounds. Fearing that the whites might become em- 
broiled in their feuds, Governor Keith, accompanied by seventy 
armed horsemen, paid a visit to the governor of Virginia and 
entered into a compact with him, to the effect that the Pennsyl- 
vania Indians should not hunt in the mountains on the western 
side of the Potomac, and that the Virginia Indians should not 
transgress on the eastern side of that river. 


14 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In order to induce the confederated tribes, called the Five 
Nations, to ratify this treaty, Governor Keith invited the sachems 
to come to Philadelphia for a conference. This they diplomatic- 
ally refused to do, but finally agreed to meet him and his staff 
near the mouth of Conestoga Creek, a few miles south of Columbia. 
This historic meeting took place under a giant of the forest, 
July 6, 1721, and continued several days. The Indians were rep- 
resented by six chiefs, who had come on foot all the way down 
along the Susquehanna from New York colony to attend this 
council fire. Their names were Ghesaont, Awenool, Tananree, 
Skeetowas, Scahoode, and Tchehukque, delegates of the Senecas, 
the Onondagoes, and the Cayugas. It was on that memorable 
occasion that their orator, Ghesaont, made the first prohibition 
speech, so far as we know, in America. He begged that the 
traders should not be allowed to send any more rum among his 
people, declaring that it was at the bottom of all the troubles 
that had arisen between them and the whites. These sachems 
of the tribes reasserted their fidelity to the covenant, which they 
had made years before with ‘‘Brother Onas,’’ and readily agreed 
to ratify the treaty with Virginia. 

At the Conestoga Council the absolute ownership of our 
present territory by the Indians was acknowledged. It was 
tacitly confessed that their rights extended from the Susquehanna 
to the Potomac. Such was the geographical and political status 
of our county at the date of this tripartite arrangement. But the 
clock of fate had struck the hour when it would have to be other- 
wise. The first squatter on our soil was John Greist. The Penns 
summarily ejected him from the mouth of the Conojohela, where 
also the wigwam of Chief Beaver stood. Several Marylanders 
followed, but they, too, were driven away. The natives, as a 
means of circumventing the abusive intruders from the south, as 
well as to give the Penns a ground for future claims, consented 
to allow the whites to lay out Springettsbury Manor, containing 
75,520 acres, on the western side of the river. This was in 1722. 
The petty tribes who agreed to this plan and whose chiefs ac- 
companied the surveyors in their work, were the Conestogas, the 
Shawanese, and the Conoys. They feared the intruders from 
whom they could expect no justice, but they implicitly confided 
in the Quaker colony which had never overreached or deceived 
them. They instinctively felt that if this newly-defined area was 
occupied by their friends, it would be a buffer between them and 
their arrogant enemies from the south. 

But the most notorious troubler of those early times in our 
country was Michael Cresap, who, in 17380, built a log house called 
a fort, on Cabin Branch Run, a few miles below Wright’s Ferry, 
which latter also was established in that year. He came owning 
allegiance to Lord Baltimore, from whom he held commissions as 
surveyor, land agent, and captain of militia. He began a war 


PIONEER LUTHERANS IN PENNSYLVANIA 15 


with the incoming Penn’s men. At the height of the fracas three 
hundred cavaliers of Terra Maria, whose rendezvous was Cresap’s 
Fort, rode into this territory, frightening the unarmed settlers 
and threatening them with fire and sword if they would not be 
obedient to Lord Baltimore. Reeiprocal incarcerations took place 
and blood was shed on both sides. Finally, the sheriff of Lancas- 
ter County, with a posse of twenty-four men, made an early 
morning attack on Cresap’s Fort, which was defended by only 
seven men. ‘The assaulters set fire to the building and smoked 
out the wily old fox and took him prisoner. One Marylander was 
killed. That was in 1736. On the 11th of October of that year 
the Indians relinquished their claims to all the lands westward 
from the Susquehanna ‘‘to the setting sun.’? The border warfare 
was now over, but the finality of the dispute was not reached until 
the establishment of the famous Mason and Dixon’s line in 1768. 


Already in 1727 Lord Baltimore granted John Digges per- 
mission to survey for himself ten thousand acres of the unoccupied 
lands in the region about the present town of Hanover. Here 
titles could be obtained as early as 1731, while in Springettsbury 
Manor none could be obtained so soon. Hence there was a 
rush toward the newly-surveyed ‘‘Digges’ Choice.’ Thus our 
present bounds were open for settlement at both ends. Immed- 
lately parallel streams of immigration began to pour in from all 
the sections east and south of us. So that in 1732 there were on 
the York County side of the Susquehanna four hundred persons, 
who were loyal to the Penns and paying taxes to the Lancaster 
County authorities. 

Such is a very brief account of the pristine environment and 
primitive history of our section, which is necessary to an adequate 
understanding of our history. Such was the original setting, 
though imperfectly described, of the Church of Luther in our 
midst. It was, indeed, the Church in the wilderness and the day 
of small things. 

A few of the first-comers were people who simply crossed over 
from the Lancaster side, where they had previously taken up land 
and residence. So fast did immigration pour into Pennsylvania, 
after 1728, that soon very large tracts in the fertile eastern region 
were no longer available to single holders. The eastern sections 
being considered somewhat congested many of the more active 
spirits ventured into the more recently opened district with the 
hope of securing broader acres for themselves and their children. 
But very early the stream of foreign invasion began to find its 
way directly from the wharf of Philadelphia to our parts. A few 
of them came from Switzerland, and some of them from England, 
but the vast majority were emigrants from the Rhine provinces 
of Germany, called in general the Palatinate or Palatina. Scot- 
land also furnished a share. 

If the reader will look at a map of Europe he will at a glance 


16 History OF WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


perceive with what comparative ease geographically the people 
of those regions could find America. ‘The river Rhine, having its 
sources among the lakes of Switzerland, after coursing along near 
the borders of France, in about eight hundred miles reaches Rot- 
terdam (now called The Hague) in Holland, where it empties its 
waters into the North Sea. 

This is exactly what took place on a large scale. 


A few Swiss settlers reached York County. ‘These of course 
were Reformed or Calvinists. But so many of them, as is proved 
by their names on Lutheran rosters, afterwards, for various 
reasons, became of our number, that it is worth while to mention 
them. They did not leave their beloved Alps because they still 
were oppressed, but their liberty and independence had been 
bought at a great price. Most of them were poor, but full of the 
spirit of enterprise and ambition for wider opportunities; hence 
many of them instinctively and sympathetically caught ne con- 
tagion to seek the land of the freedom-loving Penn. 


Some also came from other parts of Germany. But ae over- 
whelming mass were Palatinates. There was a special reason for 
this. In order to understand it, we must examine into the history 
and condition of these people. ‘This has been so well done by 
Prof. Raschen, of Lafayette College, that we can do no better 
than to quote his words: “‘As the Palatinate was one of the border 
lands of the German empire, fair and fertile and prosperous, it 
began to disturb the peace of covetous French monarchs. And 
When this German land would remain German their vindictive 
spirit would not down until by utter devastation the flourishing 
plain had been laid waste, and the pride of the people had been 
trodden under foot. The beginning of the terrible devastations 
falls in the time of the Thirty Years’ War, 1618-1648. 


“Then came the war of the Spanish succession keeping all 
Kurope astir, and the Palatinate again became the scene of con- 
flict and war, and therefore of suffering. The French, in search 
of their foes, traversed the land, and where they went they rav- 
aged it. In 1707 Marshall Villars led an army of French troops 
through the Palatinate with the intention of repeating the horrors 
of 1689. Charred ruins and impoverished subjects again were the 
result of the visitation of his inhuman soldiers. 


“In the midst of such trials, with what feelings did the Pala- 
tines look upon the past? Had not their sojourn in their ravaged 
land been full of anxiety and fears? Who will charge them with 
disloyalty when they resolutely set their faces towards the West, 
in the hope of finding a better land, where reigned peace and 
quiet, and where there was liberty of conscience?” (“The Penn- 
syluania German,” Sept. 1908, pp. 389ff.) 


To finish this picture we will add a quotation from the En- 
evclopedia Britannica (Vol. XX; p. 535), which says, ‘‘The wars 


PIONEER LUTHERANS IN PENNSYLVANIA 7 


carried on here by his Most Christian Majesty, Louis XIV (died 
1715), are still remembered in the Rhine district where the dev- 
astations of his generals were of the most appalling description; 
and scarcely a village or town but has a tale to tell of the murder 
and rapine of this period.” 

Such was the dark European background of our local church 
history, of which a glimpse is necessary in order that we may 
understand our own times. 

Some of our York County Palatines came by way of Tulpe- 
hocken, whither their parents had come from New York State. 
This is an interesting piece of history. On account of the dis- 
tressful conditions prevailing in the Rhenish provinces, as already 
inadequately depicted, Pastor Kocherthal, of London, in 1704, 
immediately after the most recent French invasion, began to make 
arrangements to lead his suffering people to America. In 1708 
he brought a band of 53 persons to London and thence to New 
York. The next year they were followed by an immense number, 
estimated at 32,468. Of these 7,000 returned to Germany and 
3,000 were sent to Ireland, and 650 to North Carolina. But the 
remainder, who were camped under the open sky, like gypsies, 
had to be fed by the, Lutheran Queen Ann of England, whose 
charity was thus severely taxed. In 1710 the survivors of a band 
of 3,000 or 4,000 arrived in New York, whither the good queen had 
sent them in three ships. While they had been stranded in Lon- 
don they were visited by five Mohawk Indian chiefs who promised 
them lands in their reservation. These red men proved better 
friends than the English whites in the colony. Governor Hunter 
settled these Palatine farmers and vine-dressers on the Hudson 
River and, in their poverty, set them to raise hemp and to burn 
tar for the military stores of the government. Hence being in 
the condition of military espionage and at the mercy of their 
masters, their lot had not improved. Their independent spiriis, 
not being inclined to brook this semithraildom, many of them 
during the winter of 1712-13 broke away and took up the lands 
they had secured from the Indians, in the vicinity of Schoharie. 
After highly cultivating their farms and putting up necessary 
buildings, these people found it impossible to secure clear titles 
to their homes from the colonial government of New York. As 
a consequence in 1723 a band of thirty-three families, with an 
Indian guide, sought the head-waters of the Susquehanna. built 
themselves rafts for their household goods and families, drove 
their cattle along the shore, and thus descended to Swatara Creek, 
where Middletown now stands, ascending up that stream until 
they reached the Tulpehocken Valley, where Governor Keith, 
without consulting his superiors, allowed them to settle. This first 
band was followed by others until a great company of these Pala- 
tine wanderers had come to Pennsylvania via the Mohawk Valley. 


18 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Afterwards numbers of their offspring removed to the territory 
of York and Cumberland Counties. 

Inasmuch as it is estimated that even in 1727 already there 
were 20,000 Germans in eastern Pennsylvania, we should be pre- 
pared to learn that many of the first people simply crossed over 
from the older settlements. However as already stated numbers 
of raw emigrants also reached our primeval domain. 

Dr. A. R. Wentz, in his “Beginnings of the German Element 
in York County, Pa.,” has conferred a great honor upon our 
corner of the earth. It is the first and only scientific, uncom- 
mercialized history of our early infancy as a civic community. 

To corroborate what we said briefly about the reasons why 
our forefathers came to America, as well as to get a more elabor- 
ate view of our paternal antecedents, the reader is referred to the 
fifth chapter in Dr. Wentz’s interesting book. 

But besides the horrors of a voyage in comparatively frail 
and overcrowded sail-ships, before the days of the floating palaces, 
such as our ocean liners now are, and which defiantly brave the 
most terrific storm, when our forefathers came to America they 
had to meet a novel enemy before ever they touched land. 

In 1748 Rev. John A. Weygand came to America. According 
to Muhlenberg’s account, (quoted by A. L. Grabur, Hist. Luth. 
Church in America, p. 430), a ‘““Newlander”’ sought him out and 
proposed to call him as a traveling minister to America, where he 
assured the minister there were wide regions full of Germans 
who were sitting in the darkness and shadow of death, because 
they had neither preachers nor school teachers. Mournfully he 
assumed the posture of the man of Macedonia, who pleaded 
with Paul, “Come over and help us.’”’ The ‘Newlander,” Of 
course, knew that he was sure of a reward from the soul-traffick- 
ers who had hired him, if he would induce a preacher to go along, 
as the minister would serve as a bait to draw others upon the 
ship. The ‘‘Newlander”’ assured him a free passage and a free 
ration. The merchant, on whose ship he went, seconded the 
““Newlander’s’” promise. What hardship, need, and stench the 
poor fellow endured during the voyage, it is impossible to describe. 
(“Was der arme Mann fur Ungemach, Neth, und Gestank ausge- 
standen, ist nicht zu sagen.”’) When the ship arrived at Philadel- 
phia the ‘‘Newlander’’ absconded (‘‘achte sich aus dem Staube’’) 
and if the other immigrants had not gone security for Rev. Wey- 
gand’s passage, the merchant would have sold him with other 
dupes as a redemptioner. 

This incident introduces us to one of the most unprincipled, 
conscienceless class of rogues, that ever scourged a people. Sachse 
says of them (Ger. Sectarians, note, vol. 2, u. 27): “This was a 
local term confined to Pennsylvania, and applied to a class of 
sharpers who came to the Province with the expectation of getting 
wealthy in a short time without work. Their scheme was to 


PIONEER LUTHERANS IN PENNSYLVANIA 19 


return to Germany and travel through the Palatinate and Wur- 
temberg, making a profuse display of jewelry and money, similar 
to the mountebanks at the annual fairs, their aim being to induce 
persons of the middle classes to come to Pennsylvania. The 
Province was represented as a very elysium; any one could become 
rich as a nobleman in a short time. The profit of these wretches 
consisted in luring the honest burghers of Germany into entrusting 
themselves with their money and chattels into their keeping and 
embarking for the new world. Then, again, the Newlander’s 
goods and freight were carried free, besides receiving a premium, 
or head-money, for every person they embarked on ship-board at 
Rotterdam. 

“The worst feature of this disreputable trade happened upon 
the arrival at Philadelphia, when the whole cargo was sold into 
servitude and their chattels and belongings were seized for extras 
alleged to have been furnished during the voyage, notwithstanding 
the fact that the passage was paid prior to the start. 

“This nefarious trade was encouraged by the English ship- 
owners, Quaker and Churchman, who profited by their barter in 
human souls, and thus laid the foundation to some of the large 
fortunes of the present day.” 

The Lutheran Cyclopedia also gives us additional information 
on this subject (p. 404). “Before sailing from Holland, German 
immigrants were required to sign an agreement written in English. 
The journey down the Rhine and from Holland to Cowes (England, 
where all ships touched) consumed so much time and caused such 
heavy expenses, that the moderate means of the immigrant had 
already been consumed. ‘The long ocean journey, often of many 
months’ duration, brought unthought of sufferings to the passen- 
gers on the crowded vessels. Upon arrival at Philadelphia no one 
was allowed to leave the vessel. All of proper age were taken 
ashore, a few at a time, to take the oath of allegiance to the 
British Crown and then returned to the vessel. No one could 
then leave the vessel who had not paid the passage money. Those 
who could not pay the fare and further aid advanced to them, 
were sold to Englishmen, Dutchmen, and High Germans who had 
come on board to buy the white slaves, who agreed to serve their 
purchasers for the payment of their debts. Such white slaves 
were called Redemptioners--who had to serve their masters for 
years, or in the case of children, until twenty-one years old. In 
this wicked traffic not only merchants in Holland and the New- 
landers, but also parties in this country, had a financial interest. 
This sale of poor and unfortunate immigrants brought great sor- 
row to families whose members often were separated never to 
see each other again on earth.” 

Having now too briefly described the ancestral conditions 
which our forefathers left and their long and dangerous voyage 
across the briny deep, we will imagine that they have arrived at 


20 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the Susquehanna. Here was another body of water to cross be- 
fore they could reach their new home. ‘This had to be done by 
ford or ferry. During the breaking of the ice and spring floods, 
some, though so near their journey’s end, yet lost their lives here 
by venturing through the treacherous channels. Some great poet 
might well try his genius to paint a word-picture of The Ferry or 
perhaps better The Ford. It certainly would contain all the 
pathos and all the tragedy of human life. Nature lends a charm- 
ing perspective to the mighty stream of human beings who crossed 
the ford at Columbia to meet their destiny beyond. »*Uncounted 
thousands of all nationalities and social grades in that grey age 
passed through this lane of migration, many of them not stopping 
until they reached Virginia and the Carolinas. Longfellow’s ‘“The 
Bridge,’ and Geethe’s “Herman and Dorothea” give us a seer’s 
hint of what such a warm gulf stream of humanity, surging through 
the York Valley, meant. 

But many of these souls settled in Springettsbury Manor and 
of their new seats we will now speak. 

Ethnologically speaking York County was settled in three 
broad and distinct sections, which crossed it in parallel bands 
running east and west. The middle and most fertile section, a 
continuation of the famous Lancaster Valley, was taken up by 
the Germans. Here was the heaviest timber and the limestone 
soil. Generally speaking this area is comprised between the Cone- 
wago hills on the north and the highest point above the sea (800 
feet) at Red Lion on the south. The rolling country of the lower 
end was mostly settled by Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and even 
some Welsh people. The red sand-stone lands of the upper end, 
between the Conewagos and the spurs of the South Mountain 
(Alleghenies) were taken up by English Quakers. It is thus seen 
that the Germans were sandwiched between two English speaking 
folk. ‘This has proven to be a great advantage in educational 
lines. This is the reason why this county is more generally ang- 
licized and why there is less German preaching among us than 
there is in many far older regions in eastern Pennsylvania. 

“Digges’ Choice,’’ about old MeCallisterville (Hanover), was 
settled by a more mixed population. Many of the early settlers 
there also were Germans, but there were English, Seotch and 
Irish among them, and a considerable number of them were Roman 
Catholics from Maryland. Of this fact the cathedral-like churches 
and other institutions of that faith in that vicinity stand as vivid 
proofs. 

The topography and conditions of the new environment and 
the cause of the influx of the pioneers being now understood, let 
us picture a case which is not a figment of the imagination but a 
historical reality. Let us suppose that a voung couple, whom we 
will call after the Herman and Dorothea of romance, with two 
small children of the same names, have come over the sea, sworn 


PIONEER LUTHERANS IN PENNSYLVANIA JAI 


allegiance to the English Crown, registered in the ship’s record- 
book, and landed in Philadelphia. Old friends who had preceded 
them to this continent meet these weary immigrants at the wharf 
and give them the hospitality of their own home sixty miles west 
of the city, whither they take them in a Conestoga wagon, drawn 
by slow-plodding oxen. After a good rest the newcomers, with all 
their worldly goods, including a big wooden chest full of garments 
and bed-clothes, continue their journey in the same kind of vehicle, 
canvas-covered, to Columbia, where they secure a license to settle 
in Springettsbury Manor from the land-office of the Penns. The 
river is low and so they ford it to save expenses. Their home-sick 
eyes fail to be entranced by its glorious vistas. Its swift waters, 
gurgling among its exposed rocks, make their hearts timid. But 
they safely reach the other side. There they see a clump of native 
apple trees in bloom. Presently they see a woman with a proud 
bearing on a horse galloping along the trail above the shingles of 
the shore. The time is 1734 and this is Captain Cresap’s wife 
who is acting as scout of the Marylander’s fort only a few miles 
away. She goes to report how many of Penn’s people crossed the 
river on that day. 

Following a rough road through the thick forest over the old 
Indian trail to the Monocacy, our friends reached the vicinity of 
the Codorus just as the sun was going down. The oxen were 
tethered at trees beside a brook, which meandered through a nar- 
row meadow. ‘The good wife spread a bed in the wagon’s bed; 
made a little supper of cheese and rye bread upon the chest, the 
first table of most pioneers, and soon the whole family was soundly 
asleep under the hoops of the canvas and the inky gloom of the 
young foliage. 

The next morning they sought a spring that had been gushing 
and waiting for them during untold centuries and by its side they 
in due time built the one-roomed log-cabin which was to be their 
home for the rest of their lives and their death-chamber at its 
end. A clearing was made for the first crop of maize. A garden 
was planted with vegetables. Even a few old world flowers were 
there to adorn it. The hard struggle for existence was on. But 
peace reigned everywhere. The Bible, the hymn-book, and 
Arndt’s True Christianity gave consolation in loneliness. The 
thinly scattered neighbors were sociable and helpful. The angels 
of happiness and hope hovered over the forest-home, and the 
angel of contentment held sway within. 

But the Church and the school, those twin-sister forces of 
civilization, were not as yet. However, soul-hunger became keen 
in the strange land. There was a famine of the word of God 
that was worse than the scarcity of food. The field in the wild- 
wood was white for the pioneer missionary’s sickle. 

Thus far our survey of the primitive conditions in our present 
territory nearly two hundred years ago had to do mostly with 


22 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the line of immigration along the Monocacy Indian trail. But 
Harris Ford, where the Cumberland Valley debouches upon the 
broad Susquehanna, also became a gateway for the overflow of 
population into the regions beyond the original Shakamoxon fron- 
tier. True, many settlers of the fertile domain between the North 
and South Mountains of the Alleghenies, in Cumberland, Franklin 
and Fulton, entered by way of the York-Carlisle bridle-path and 
over the borders of Adams; but a strong current also poured down 
from the Paxtang and other settlements in eastern Pennsylvania. 
Harris established his trading-post, near the famous mulberry tree, 
in 1705. About 1730 the restless and adventurous Scotch-Irish 
began to penetrate into the coves of Fulton. The first settlers 
of Adams were this class. They removed from the lower clear- 
ings and barrens of York County. The first shock-troops of 
civilization, in the wild and dangerous pristine environment of 
the great valley frontier, mostly were of this daring and enter- 
prising gens. Only afew English mingled with them. ‘The flood- 
tide began to move about 1715, and so rapidly increased in vol- 
ume that an officer of the Colony wrote to the Penns, ‘‘It looks as 
if Ireland is to send all her inhabitants, for last week not less than 
six ships arrived, and every day two or three arrive also.” (Ege’s 
History of Penna., p. 615). 

It is important to remember that these new clans from Erin’s 
isle were Protestants, and in every way a desirable people. A 
feud arose between them and the Germans in York County in 
1749, because the Proprietors refused to sell any more land in 
that district to the Irish. Hence a great influx of these Kelts 
into the Cumberland Valley took place. The Germans, too, 
clinging more closely to land once occupied, soon (about 1734) 
began to supplant their more nomadic English and Scotch-Irish 
neighbors. Thus it happened that an army of Teutonic immi- 
grants and trekkers filtered into the well-watered rich vales and 
wide tracts beneath the shadows of the Blue Mountains. The 
hardy pioneers of both these great stocks soon were numerous 
enough to organize civic units for law and order. Cumberland 
County was formed in 1750, and at first, comprised Bedford (1771), 
Northumberland (1772), Franklin (1784), Mifflin (1789), Perry 
(1820), and Fulton (1850). Adams was cut off from York County 
in 1800. 

During the long French and Indian War (1755-1765), the 
dwellers on this sector of civilization received the brunt of the 
attack. A line of forts was built, one every tenth mile, from 
Bediord to Easton. Yet the stealthy marauding red man mas- 
sacred fourteen hundred peaceful men, Women and children during 
those dreadful vears. In 1756 the Big Cove settlement was nearly 
wiped out. Especially between 1757 and 1763 many savage raids 
took place and many barbaric murders were perpetrated. The 
distress was great. The people fled like flocks of frightened sheep 


PIONEER LUTHERANS IN PENNSYLVANIA Zo 


into the stockades at Chambersburg, Shippensburg and Carlisle. 
(Frontier Forts of Penna., vol. I, pp. 508ff and 527ff). This 
bitterness was experienced and shared by our Lutheran progeni- 
tors with their suffering neighbors. 


CHAPTER II 


THE First MISSIONARY 


The first great home-missionary of the Lutheran Church in 
America, of whom we have documentary evidence, was born at 
Luedorf (Leudhorst), in the Lower Palatinate, Germany, Decem- 
ber 21,1707. After studying the.classics and theology privately, 
he emigrated with his father, also a minister, to Pennsylvania, ar- 
riving at Philadelphia, September 11, 1728. He seems to have 
been a born preacher, having held service on shipboard, and upon 
landing immediately became a traveling missionary to the scatter- 
ed communities in the wilds of this state, which of course then 
was only a colony of Great Britain. 

After for some unknown reason having been denied ordination 
by Rev. Daniel Falkner, in New Jersey, he received the rite at 
the hands of Rev. Christian Schultz, a pastor in Philadelphia, who 
had himself been in America only about seven months. At that 
time there were only about half a dozen Lutheran ministers in 
this country. The ordination of young Stoever, being then only 
twenty-six years of age, took place in a barn at the Trappe, April 
8, 1733. At the same time he was married to a young lady of 
whom we know only that she was born in Germany, that she was 
eight years his junior, that her maiden name was Maria Catarina 
Merckling, and that she became the mother of eleven children. 
Immediately upon his ordination and marriage he resumed his 
operations in the interior of the colony, where he had before been 
laboring as a lay preacher. The young missionary and his bride 
found a home at Earl Town, in Lancaster County, from which as 
a center he officiated at Philadelphia, Lebanon, Tulpehocken, 
Chestnut Hill, Germantown, New Hanover (Montgomery) and 
Goschenhoppen, Conestoga, Manheim, Conojahela, Codorus and 
Conewago (York County), Monocacy (Maryland) and beyond the 
the Potomac in Virginia, as Well as a dozen other places. When 
we remember the clumsy means of transportation and travel of 
those early days, we must marvel at the scope of his operations. 
We may obtain an idea of the rapidity and extent of his move- 
ments from the fact that in the year 1733, he baptized children in 
the following widely separated neighborhoods: January 20th, at 
Oley (Berks); February 11th, at Providence (Montgomery) ; 
April 16th, at Northkill (Lebanon); June 12th and 24th, at Falk- 
ner’s Swamp (near Pottstown); July 8th, 15th, and 23d, at Chest- 
nut Hill (six negro children); August 4th, at Colebrookdale 


24 


First MISSIONARY TO FIRST SYNOD 25 


(Montgomery); August 5th, at Chestnut Hill again; August 20th, 
at Schuylkill; September 3d, at Falkner’s Swamp again; Septem- 
ber 15th, at Ridge (near Philadelphia); September 17th, at 
Lebanon; September 20th in the Oley Mountains (Berks); Sep- 
tember 29th at Swatara; October 20th at Colebrookdale again; 
October 28th, at Merion (near Philadelphia); October 29th, at 
Skippak; November 7th, at Lebanon; November 13th, at Cole- 
brookdale again; November 25th, at Chestnut Hill again; Decem- 
ber 2d, at Germantown; December 10th, at Oley again; December 
16th, at Chestnut Hill again. Last, but not least for our purpose, 
Stoever traversed York County during the same year. 

What an ecclesiastical shuttle-cock this man was! No doubt 
mostly on horseback he forded rivers, crossed mountains, traversed 
wildernesses, rode from clearing to clearing, from cabin to cabin, 
on Sabbaths and week days, year in and year out, innocent of 
vacations, preaching the word, administering the sacraments, 
organizing congregations, encouraging the little flocks, marrying 
the living, burying the dead, and thus cherishing ‘‘the day of 
small things” and sowing for the future. 

The exact year in which missionary John Caspar Stoever first 
crossed the Susquehanna into our territory is unknown. We have 
no unquestioned data by which to decide the question beyond 
doubt. He kept no diary. But. he did keep accurate pastoral 
records, and these are still extant. The first entry of a baptism 
in our parts is that of a child named John Jacob Kitzmiller, son 
of John Martin Kitzmiller, on April 19, 1731; and is accredited 
to the Church on the Conewago, which was the designation given 
to the Lutheran congregation formed later of Digges’ Choice, 
now St. Matthew’s at Hanover. No one has ever claimed that 
Mr. Stoever was at Hanover in 1731. We know that that fine 
section was only beginning to be settled about that time. The 
record of this baptism is not in any known church-book. We also 
know that Mr. Stoever was not ordained before 1738, and there- 
fore hardly would have traveled so far to baptize one baby, where 
as yet only a few Lutherans lived. But, above all mere conjec- 
ture, there in not one iota of proof that Mr. Stoever ever crossed 
the Susquehanna before his ordination in 1733. Only in that year 
did he begin his register at New Holland, where he resided. 

The pastoral records of this great Lutheran itinerant have 
been translated by the late Dr. F. J. F. Schantz and afford in- 
teresting reading. The present writer has also seen the original. 
These old records mark only one baptism for 1730. But there are 
a number of 1731 noted. The date of this Kitzmiller baptism is 
a puzzle to the historian. On it as a basis the priority of Christ 
Church, York, and its honor as the mother church west of the 
Susquehanna have been disputed. Prowell’s late history of York 
County would question that fact. Dr. Theodore Schmauk in his 


26 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


history of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania, claims that 
Stoever did cross the river before 1733. 

In our day entries are written in succession, the latest in 
date always coming last in space. This is not the case in Stoever’s 
records. According to the custom of the olden time he would jot 
down the name of the head of the family and then register under 
it all the baptisms of that family in order of age as they occurred. 
He would leave sufficient space for the future, which usually was 
well filled afterwards, though many staring, white blanks are left 
bare. 

Now, suppose John Jacob Kitzmiller was born at Karl Town, 
Lancaster County. The babv boy is taken to the resident pastor 
for baptism. The minister enters the account of the act in his 
private record. The family sometime thereafter moves to the 
frontier settlement, lately opened on the Conewago, where on 
October 15, 1734, another boy arrives. In December of that year 
the same pastor goes up from the Codorus and baptizes this 
second child. The pastor enters the name right under that of 
the first. A third baby is baptized in 1738 and the record 1s placed 
at the bottom of the group. We thus see how easily the birth 
and baptism of a baby at Earl Town might be so recorded as to 
seem to have occurred at Conewago, which afterwards became its 
home. This we are persuaded is exactly what did in fact take 
place. At least there is not, aside from that otherwise explainable 
record, a scintilla of evidence that Stoever crossed the Susque- 
hanna prior to 1733. We seek to establish this fact without bias, 
simply and solely in the interests of historical truth. 


Stoever’s book records that on September 30, 1733, he bap- 
tized children both at Schiefen (Chestnut Hill, near Philadelphia), 
and at Conewago (Hanover). These two places being over one 
hundred miles apart, there plainly would here be an error, unless 
we explain the statements in the light of the above mentioned 
custom of making entries. If the Hanover baby was simply born 
at Chestnut Hill and afterwards baptized at Hanover the case is 
plain. Or, a baby born at Hanover might during a visit have 
been baptized at Chestnut Hill. 


Dr. Jesse Koller, one of the most accurate scholars, wrote 
the extant history of St. Matthew’s church, Hanover, the only 
possible aspirant for first place, outside of Christ Church, York, 
and which celebrated its sesqui-centennial in 1893. He knew 
that the congregation on the Conewago was organized in 17438. 
Part of its pre-documentary existence no doubt synchronizes with 
that of the congregation on the Codorus, but during the first few 
years it was somewhat dependent upon the latter for services. At 
least during the first decade the former was not a distinct organi- 
zation, but in a somewhat inchoate condition. However, the 
Lutherans on the Conewago built their log church one year before 


First MIssIonaRY TO FIRST SYNOD Dh 


those on the Codorus built theirs. But as an organized congre- 
gation the former never claimed priority over the latter. 

As far as the date of the afore-mentioned baptism is an item 
in the account, the whole question receives illumination from an 
event which is recorded in Rupp’s History of Adams County 
(1846, p. 539). It is there said, “In 1737 Martin Kitzmiller made 
a purchase of some lands near to Digges’ first patented tract in 
Conewago, and the next year built a house and mill,” ete. As 
this is the first: legal documentary notice we have of Martin Kitz- 
miller, we may be justified in claiming that the year 1737 marks 
the date of his arrival on the Conewago, with his son, Jacob, who, 
either himself, or possibly his son, Jacob, the third, afterwards 
(1752) in a scuffle with Sir Dudley Digges, while resisting a 
Maryland arrest, killed the latter. Of course any date we have 
mentioned as marking the time when the first Kitzmiller came to 
any part of York County is only an hypothesis. But it is highly 
improbable that any of that family had crossed the River before 
1731. Prowell’s History of York County says (p. 77) that “Jacob 
Kitzmiller, the emigrant, arrived in this province not later than 
the spring of 1736.” If this statement were correct, our point 
would be established beyond a peradventure, and the quotation 
in the same history of the baptism of 1731 self-contradictory. 
But it is an error. Johannes Kitzmiller, as already stated, ar- 
rived in 1728, and besides him no other of that name came before 
1753. To suppose that the “Johannes” of 1728 was our John 
Martin, of Earl Town, otherwise called ‘‘Senior,” and that either 
he or some of his sons removed to Conewago in 1737, where Mr. 
Stoever visited them in 1738 (as the pioneer’s record shows that 
he did), would meet all the difficulties in the case and leave un- 
disputed the ancient claim that the zealous itinerant did not cross 
the Susquehanna before 1733, when we are sure he did cross it. 

Mr. J. F. Sachse, in ‘‘German Sectarians,’’ mentions ‘‘Cone- 
wago’’ as one of the places where Rev. John Casper Stoever effected 
an organization (Vol. I, p. 212). This must be a mistake, unless 
he refers to a place in Lancaster County. It is supposed that 
during the decade that he served at the ‘‘Codorus,”’ he also preach- 
ed at “Conewago” (York County), but of this there is no docu- 
mentary proof. However, his pastoral record shows that he con- 
tinuously baptized children in that region, and it may safely be 
presumed that these little ones were consecrated either in their 
homes or at some more or less congregational rendezvous in the 
community. At a time when there was such a famine of the 
word of God, it is not likely that Stoever would be allowed to 
come and go away from the German settlement on the ‘‘Conna- 
waka’”’ without being prevailed upon to hold services. 

Dr. Schmauk says (p. 242) that in 1732 “the Conewago in 
MecAllistertown in Hanover, York County, across the Susque- 
hanna was established.’’ For this statement there is not a scin- 


28 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


tilla of evidence. How could it have been established without 
preaching or divine services of some kind, and who would have 
been the minister? Not Stoever, for so far as we know he did 
not in that year cross the Susquehanna. Of a lay reader we have 
heard nothing as yet at that date in connection with that com- 
munity. The settlement was too raw even to have a school. If 
by “established”? Dr. Schmauk simply means that Lutherans had 
begun to rush into that district, then designated ‘Digges’ Choice,” 
since perhaps 1730 (hardly earlier) and that they came thick and 
fast, and that they soon formed a nucleus for organization, we 
can allow his declaration to stand. But from the facts in the 
ease, other significance it can not have. 

Dr. J. C. Koller, for over a-quarter of a century the learned 
pastor of St. Matthew’s, Hanover, in his history of the congre- 
gation (p. 10), says: “St. Matthew’s traces its origin directly back 
to the settlement of Germans who migrated to this region probably 
no earlier than 1731. Just about a time that a colony of Roman 
Catholics, sent out by the adherents of Lord Baltimore, located 
on the northwestern side of the Conewago Creek, where now the 
well-known Conewago chapel stands, a band of Protestants-—al- 
most exclusively Lutherans—encouraged by the heirs of William 
Penn—built their rude cabins on the southeast side of the same 
stream. These same German forefathers were the originators of 
our church. And although the name of the congregation has been 
changed three times, it preserves at this day on its records some 
names held by the original occupants of the county, as Barnitz, 
Biedinger, Carl, Shultz, and Young. 

“As early as 1738-42 apparently fruitless efforts had been 
made to gather the isolated people into a congregation. An ener- 
getic and godly layman—Yost Mosher by name—who had au- 
thority to perform Nothtaufen (as the baptisms of the dying are 
called) conducted meetings from house to house, read prayers and 
sermons, and the service (liturgy) with people who longed for the 
renewal of their prized privileges in the Faderland’’. 

That no injustice has been done to Dr. Schmauk’s claim that 
the Conewago congregation was organized in 1732 is evident from 
his own words in a letter to Rev. Ralph H. Bergstresser of Hanover, 
who inquired for the authority of his statement. Under date of 
November 30, 1919, the former says: 

“Replying to yours of November 28th, the passage you quote 
is a part of a summary of dates of founding of churches, which I 
prepared to give the reader an idea of the progressive development 
of our Pennsylvania Lutheranism. The dates were assigned when 
I was in special touch with all the sources, with the lives of the 
ministers, and with the local history of communities, and was 
thus in a good position to test and corroborate. 

“Tt may have been given in one of the reports or letters of 
Muhlenberg; it may have been an inference from the Diary of 


T’irst MIssIonaRy TO Frrst Synop 29 


John Caspar Stoever; it may have been based upon some local 
information furnished me by Mr. Prowell, Curator of the His- 
torical Society, York, or a combination of these. 

“There may have been a note in one of the early Church- 
records of the region, that indicated it. It is possible that Dr. 
B. M. Schmucker, in his article on the Lutheran Church at York, 
in the Lutheran Church Review, may have indicated some sources. 

“To give you a definite answer, I would be obliged to go into 
the whole situation again, with perhaps weeks of work, and that 
is impossible at present.”’ 

The author of this history challenged the now lamented Dr. 
Schmauk to furnish the data on which he based his assertion, and 
he also gave the above reason for not complying. But it is not 
in this way that history can be written. We must have the facts, 
and facts must be established by records. Only thus can dates 
be fixed. Guesses or half memories will not answer. 

What is our source of evidence that John Caspar Stoever 
crossed the Susquehanna in 1733 and organized a Lutheran con- 
geregation somewhere near the east bank of the Codorus Creek? 
It is a venerable document, bound in pigskin, musty, venerable 
and worn with age. It was paid for by twenty-four men, some of 
them likely very young, whose names are written on the fly-leaf 
by the same hand, which anyone, though not an expert in chirog- 
raphy, soon would recognize as that of John Caspar Stoever 
himself. 

The heading reads: 

“Namen der Persohnen welche zu Erkauffung und Einschrei- 
bung dieses Kirchenbuches mit nach Vermogen beygetragen haben.” 

(Names of the persons who, according to their ability, con- 
tributed toward the purchase and inscription of this church-book.) 

On the opposite page is the following caption: 

“Verzecchniss der getauften Kinder in der Evangelischen- 
Lutherischen Gemeinde an der Katores.”’ 

(Register of the baptized children in the Evangelical Lutheran 
congregation on the Codorus.) 

Then follows the entry of the first baptism, that of Maria 
Catarina Beyer, daughter of John Adam Beyer, whose wife is not 
mentioned. the witnesses having been Peter Gardner, Lewis Stein 
and his wife (“ef uxor ejus’’) Catarina. This baptism took place 
September 23, 1733. 

On the same day Stoever baptised another Maria Catarina, 
only eleven days old, daughter of John Heerburger (mother again 
not mentioned), to which Maria Catarina Heyl was witness. 
Concerning the twenty-four names of males on the fly-leaf of 
this church book, Dr. B. M. Schmucker says (p. 4): ‘We know the 
date of arrival in America of at least sixteen, only four of whom 
arrived at Philadelphia before 1731, six arrived in the fall of 1731, 
and six in the fall of 1732. Of the heads of families whose names 


30 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


are entered in the baptismal register before the year 1741, the 
date of the arrival at Philadelphia of forty-nine is known, of whom 
five came in 1727, two in 1728, one in 1730, eleven in 1731, twenty- 
two in 1732, six in 1733, and two in 1734.’ 

This shows that many of the original Lutherans came almost 
directly to York County, at least without stopping long anywhere 
else. Many of them, if not all, were vigorous young married men, 
though, perhaps, eight out of the twenty-four pioneers who 
chipped in for the books were minors and single youths. 

It may be worth while to consider how Stoever was led to 
cross over to our vicinity. First of all, he lived on the emigrant 
route that stretched between Philadelphia and Lancaster, on 
which he would daily meet people on their way to seek homes 
west of the great river. Perhaps some of them were old friends, 
who would rest by the way at his home. At least two of the 
original signers of the first protocol of the Codorus congregation, 
Sabastian Eberle and George Shoemaker, had been fellow-passen- 
gers of his on the ship James Goodwill, David Crocket, master, 
from Rotterdam, in 1728. If any deaths occurred on this side, 
he was the nearest minister to get to officiate at the funeral. In 
case of marriages, the same was true. Add to these circumstances 
his zeal for itinerating, and the desire of the early settlers for the 
gospel, which, on the part of at least some, was ardent, and we 
can easily see how the missionary at Earltown soon would have 
his attention directed toward the new settlements along the Cono- 
johela and up to the Codorus and beyond. ‘The way was easy. 
There were no mountain barriers, the road was level, and there 
was a ferry (since 1730) at John Wright’s place. 

For the sake of clear understanding a few remarks are here 
necessary. 

The bare fact that the Stoever records mention places where 
children were baptized is no positive proof that organizations ex- 
isted in those localities. The widest latitude must be given these 
names of spots. Their geography is very indefinite. On this 
subject, Dr. H. E. Jacobs, in a private letter to the writer, says: 
“The places given in the baptismal records do not represent con- 
gregations. Mr. Stoever made periodical trips down as far as 
Opequan, Va., baptizing on his route all the children of German 
parents who desired it. The record of Conewago does not in- 
dicate any congregation, but only the place. Some of his earliest 
entries designate Chestnut Hill, and yet there was no Lutheran 
congregation there until 140 years afterwards.” 

But the fact that a church-record was purchased is prima 
facie evidence of some form of organization In a community. On 
this point, Dr. Schmauk (p. 358), says, with reference to the con- 
eregation on the Codorus: “As in the case of the other congrega- 
tions organized by Stoever, a church record was purchased, on the 
fly-leaf of which the names of twenty-four persons are recorded 


First MIssiIonarRy TO First SynNop St 


who contributed to the purchase of the book.” Dr. B. M. 
Schmucker, in his brochure, says the same thing. We thus are 
historically certain as to the year of the beginning of the organized 
Lutheranism in York County. Unfortunately the date of the sub- 
scription for the Codorus book is not given, but the names are 
unmistakably written in Stoever’s own clear and sometimes ornate 
hand. The entry of the first baptism on the opposite page with 
its date, September 23, 1733, also was his personal work. How- 
ever, that date is not the exact birthday of the congregation on 
the Codorus, but it is approximate enough for historical start and 
use. Unless the missionary carried such blank books with him, 
which may be considered to have been impossible, we must sup- 
pose at least two trips for the consummation of securing this 
church-record—one during which it was ordered and paid for, and 
one to bring it either from Lancaster or still more likely from 
Philadelphia. This very reasonable supposition might argue for 
a previous visit and operation in the York Valley. Consequently 
the congregation on the Codorus was born earlier, rather than 
later than September 23, 1733. Of course, it is also possible that 
the book might have been bought after this epoch-making bap- 
tism was performed and the ministerial act afterwards copied 
from a day book. But the fact that it does not occur in the 
private record of Stoever militates against such an idea. Hence 
it is practically impossible to fix upon any other date as the 
initium of Lutheranism west of the Susquehanna. Its origin and 
birth hour in future years will invariably be quoted as having 
occurred on September 23, 1733. Such is our best scientific know- 
ledge of the case; hence this must be our base of departure and 
return. 

One may easily get an erroneous conception of the size of the 
original congregation. The expression that the church on the 
Codorus was started with twenty-four members is misleading. It 
leaves the impression that this first flock in the wilderness on the 
west side of the river was exceedingly small in numbers. Nor is 
it correct to call these charter members. They signed no articles 
of faith or agreement. They only chipped in shillings and pence 
to buy a book. It is possible that not all of them were confirmed. 
Be that as it may, we know that already in 1732 there were four 
hundred taxpayers in York County territory. Consequently at a 
fair rate of calculation and especially considering the pace of im- 
migration in those years, there must have been a population of 
more than one thousand souls in the region extending twenty 
miles westward from the Susquehanna. Though some of these 
were German Reformed, and a few were Mennonites, Dunkards, 
or Cathclics, while too many were godless worldlings, the bulk of 
them were Lutherans. Hence the constituency of the infant con- 
gregation in 1733 must have numbered several hundred souls. It 
was weak only in resources, not in adherents. Its territory was 


Eps History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


immense, covering the entire stretch of valley from the river to 
the Conewago Creek. But where was its central location? Not 
on the present site of York, which was not laid out before 1741. 
Yet it must have been somewhere in the region bordering on the 
east bank of the Codorus. If it were not for the designation 
“Congregation on the Codorus,” we would be inclined to the opin- 
ion that the nucleus of this first flock was somewhere about Hallam 
or Canodochly. But those localities are too far away from the 
Codorus to make that probable. It is more likely that. the Lu- 
therans who lived between the Codorus and Stonybrook presented 
the first rallying point for the formation of the spiritual interests 
of “the forest primeval,’’ where the inchoate church might take 
shape. 

In view of the subsequent history of our Church in this re- 
spect it is worthy of note that the first congregation was not 
ab origine and never afterwards became a union church. The 
names In the old records show that at first the German Reformed 
had cast in their lot with the Lutherans. This was very natural. 
Outside of the Swiss, the traditions of all the Reformed were 
Lutheran. South Germany, and the Palatinate, whence most of 
our immigrants came, was first Lutheran and afterwards was part- 
ly persuaded to become Calvinistic. No doubt the pioneer Re- 
formed missionaries held their services among the Lutherans, in 
the primitive log cabins but later, for the lasting good of both 
sides, their people moved into their own spiritual home (1743). 
But their wise example was not followed by the daughters of the 
mother churches. Outside of Hanover, most of the subsequent 
Reformed and Lutheran movements toward organization issued in 
union churches, either originally or finally. The reasons seemed 
to be sound and what was plausible carried the day. 

(1). Both parties used a common language, the German, 
which, as over against the English, each was zealous to perpetuate 
in America. On account of the suspiciousness of the government 
and its later discriminations against them, they hated its very 
language. However, their love for their native tongue was strong 
enough to induce them to desire its perpetuity. Many of them 
felt that it must be the language of heaven. 

(2). The Reformed gradually leaving Zwinglianism behind 
and adopting Calvinism in its stead, were unconsciously approach- 
ing the Lutheran position. At least, the line of demarcation be- 
tween them grew very thin. As proof we would cite the fact 
that many of these bipartite churches were called ‘Lutheran and 
Calvinist.”” We know of none that was described as Lutheran 
and Zwinglian. Hence the only visible difference being that one 
said ‘Father our’’ (paternoster) and the other ‘‘our Father’’ 
(unser vater) in the Lord’s Prayer, they kept their organizations 
distinct, but preferred to worship under the same roof. 

(3). Both were poor and needed to lean on each other for 


First MIssIonaRyY TO FIRST SYNOD ays) 


support. When neither was able to build a house of worship, it 
was felt to be best to join forces and erect a common one for 
both. Unless this had been done, or one would have aliowed 
itself to be absorbed by the other, an assimilation against which 
their intense individualism rebelled, some of our primitive com- 
munities would have suffered long for a house of God. In a 
number of them the Lutherans could have built independently, 
but generously took the Reformed in as partners. In some cases 
this was done ab orzqgine; in others, many years after the Lutherans 
had existed alone. In a very few instances, conditions were re- 
versed, and the Reformed housed the weaker Lutherans. 

(4). Another and perhaps in the end the strongest reason 
for this ecclesiastical co-operation was the fact that so many of 
these immigrants had come from the same places and had suffered 
together in the common cause of Protestantism. There were 
among them very few families that were not intermarried, and 
this social bond is ever one of the firmest and most influential in 
deciding policies of all kinds. 

Some men occupy a very large place in the annals of their 
own times, but a much smaller place afterwards. Others do not 
receive their due in their own day, but loom larger and larger in 
later vears. John Caspar Stoever belongs to the latter class. On 
account of a certain independence of character and consciousness 
of priority of service, he was not appreciated at his full value by 
the first synod men (1748). But if Muhlenberg was the patriarch 
of the Lutheran Church in this country, Stoever was its path- 
finder. His work speaks louder every day in history. 

It is well to consider the relation of the early Lutheran con- 
eregation in York County to the general history of our denomina- 
tion in this country. Only this makes it so worth while to give it 
any attention, and for this reason Dr. Schmuker devotes an entire 
chapter in his history to the founding of our Church in York 
County. Our connection with the past gives us our significance. 
All the forces of former ecclesiastical development passed over the 
Susquehanna into our territory in 1733. Civilization and Chris- 
tianity both pushed over their older bounds to find here a new 
home. What was the status of our Church on the Codorus in 
1733 with reference to past history and more ancient localities in 
this new world? It then was the outmost frontier post of Prot- 
estant Christianity. Roman Catholicism from another direction 
had penetrated as far west as New Mexico (1540), and Minnesota 
(1680). The first Lutheran minister, a sea chaplain, who reached 
the American continent, was Rasmus Jensen, in 1619. The year 
1733 was the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Luther’s 
birth. In 1727 Rieth’s church in Tulpehocken, or the Lebanon 
Valley, was built. Since 1729 there existed in Lancaster a Luth- 
eran congregation which in 1733 had 149 communicants. In 1730, 
Stoever had settled at Earltown, where he began work, as well as 


34 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


on the Cocalico, in the same county. In 1734, the Salzburger 
Lutherans established themselves in Georgia. In 1733, Philadel- 
phia was 50 vears old. In 1639, the first Lutheran minister, as a 
settler, Rev. Reorus Torkillus, arrived in the colonies and settled 
on the Delaware. This was 94 vears before Stoever reached the 
Codorus. In 1702, the first Lutheran ordination in America took 
place in Philadelphia. It was that of Justus Falkner. In 1733, 
there was in Philadelphia a Lutheran congregation having less 
than one hundred members. Besides this there was one in 
Falkner’s Swamp, another at New Providence, both in Mont- 
gomery County, and these three in 1733 sent a call to Halle, 
Germany, for ministers of the gospel. In New York, the Luth- 
erans had been established since 1628, or 105 years before John 
Caspar Stoever baptized the first baby along the “swiftly flowing”’ 
Codorus. George Washington was only an infant one year and 
six months old. Such was the historical setting of the original 
congregation in Springettsbury Manor. 

For nearly a decade Stoever continued his services among 
the Lutherans along the Conojohela, Codorus and Conewago, 
visiting this section ordinarily about onee a month. His home 
was forty miles away and Wright’s Ferry often afforded only a 
perilous passage, yet his trips were pretty regular. Surely the 
“care of all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28), meant much to him. 
In the Codorus or Christ Church book from the beginning until 
the close of 1742, there is not an entry except in his easily recog- 
nized hand. In that time he baptized 191 persons and married 
34 couples. He has left no records of confirmations, burials, or 
communions at which he officiated during his pastorate here. 
Consequently much of his work and the history of our Church 
during those morning-like ten years must be left to conjecture. 
But our general knowledge of the time and environment easily 
aids the imagination in forming a true picture of the scene. The 
people first lived in their covered wagons, in which they had 
brought their few household goods and culinary utensils. While 
the men were felling trees with which to build a log hut the women 
did their cooking in the open air, two forked or crotched upright 
sticks of wood stuck in the ground with a cross-pole laid between 
them and a few stones underneath serving as a primitive hearth. 
At night the family found a couch in the wagon-bed, where sleep 
was sweet and refreshing, while the animals, the horses, oxen, 
cows, sheep or goats, were tethered in the forest. We know that 
at first there was great suffering for want of forage. The natural 
meadows where grasses grew were few. ‘The hay had to be brought 
from across the river and was very scarce and expensive. Cows 
often had nothing to browse on during the winter except the sprigs 
and buds of trees. The fare of the people themselves contained no 
luxuries. Not even the wilderness would always furnish their 
tables (at first only the lid of a wooden chest or the endgate of a 


First MIssIoNARY TO First SyNopD 30 


wagon) with meat. Thus until a crop of grain, maize, and veg- 
etables was raised, and a rough, windowless, one-doored cabin 
built, life on the new homesteads was a real hardship. Self-denial 
and privation took all the poetry out of existence. Where plenty 
now abides, there then were only want and exposure, though re- 
lieved by the peace and love of the household. 

Long did the scant wardrobe that was brought over the sea 
have to last, until flax furnished homespun. Moccasins were the 
native shoes and deer skin afforded durable pantaloons, while 
hose grew upon the backs of sheep. This strenuous and frugal 
life Stoever shared with the pioneer settlers of his congregations. 
His labors were many and difficult, his remuneration was meager. 

Under such circumstances it was anything but convenient to 
hold divine services. Private houses and barn floors were the 
first sanctuaries. If there was a school house anywhere in the 
valley between the Susquehanna and the Codorus, which after 
a few years may have been the case, it served as a church also. 
But of that we have no knowledge. The minister carried his own 
Bible and hymn book. The lesson was read, the hymn was lined. 
The people sat on backless benches made of hewn planks on legs, 
or stood through the long service and did not complain either of 
prolixity or inconvenience. There were no fires at the winter 
services, except on the outside of the building. 

God was with them, and they grew in grace and the know- 
ledge of Christ, and the Spirit kept them warm. The church, like 
a lone pelican’s egg in the wilderness, increased in size, means, and 
hope, until 1t soon burst the shell of its primitive environment 
and sought more favorable conditions. For human nature ten 
years of arduous, rough tabernacle-shifting was severe and irk- 
some enough. Yet, what is a decade in a long history? 

Stoever’s ministry in these parts ceased in April, 1748. From 
the entries in the church book, Dr. B. M. Schmucker thinks that 
during February, March and April of that vear, the congregation 
was visited bv another pastor who, from the manner of his records, 
was an aged man, well-trained in such chronicles. Who this 
character was remains a mystery. He may have been a wander- 
ing gospeller or a transient pedagogue. We do not know. Why 
he came, why he left so soon, now are unanswerable queries, which 
we must leave locked up with much besides in the silent book of 
mystery. 

The town of York was laid out in 1741. The fact undoubted- 
ly determined the future center of the congregation on the Codorus. 
The Penns very generously offered free church sites and the Luth- 
erans quickly accepted theirs on a slight rise of ground immediately 
south of the great square. This was done during Stoever’s 
pastorate. How much he had to do personally in this transaction 
we do not know. But at least from that year on “Goose Hill,” 
as tradition says it was called, began to be the nucleus around 


36 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


which the Lutherans of this section finally swarmed and built 
their hive, and here they have been busy bees ever since. The 
tradition that they laid the foundations of their church at mid- 
night in order to outwit the Reformed has not even a gossamer 
thread of reality to support it. But it is a fact that when John 
Caspar Stoever ceased to visit the congregation on the Codorus, 
it possessed by grace of the Quaker government, a piece of ground 
for a local habitation, as well as a name. We know that he was 
something of a land agent elsewhere. 

While he served in York County, he at the same time made 
many trips with some regularity down as far as Monocacy (near 
Frecerick, Md.), Opeguon (near Winchester), Woesamutton and 
Shenandoah (Va.), where he baptized many children. These long 
trips of a hundred miles and more he made at all seasons of the 
vear, even after he had removed from Earltown to the Quittapa- 
hilla, near Lebanon, in 1740. 

He ministered to people of all denominations. Remarkable 
to relate, he even baptized the children of Captain Thomas Cresap, 
the notorious Maryland intruder, who, because he represented the 
Roman Catholic house of Baltimore, usually has been described 
asa papist. Jrom the fact that Stoever’s services were acceptable 
to him, he likely was a member of the Church of England. 

Many of the names from Conojohela, Kreutz Creek, Codorus, 
and Conewago, which the pioneer itinerant records, have entirely 
disappeared from our census reports. A goodly number, however, 
still remain in honor among us. 

Inasmuch as Stoever was such an important factor in the 
early days of our territory’s Lutheranism, in fact an essential part 
of it, and inasmuch as we are by this time warmly interested in 
his personality, we will continue this section with an account of 
his after-life. Three years before he closed his work in our valley, 
he had removed his residence from Earltown to the banks of the 
Quittapahilla, where as early as 1737 he had secured a tract of 
300 acres of land and began to erect thereon a stone building, 
which served him as dwelling and mill until his death, and which 
is standing to this day. He was a man of means and, in 1763, 
became the head of the Lebanon Land Company and thus was 
the principal manager of the temporal affairs of that place (origi- 
nally Steitztown). He presented both the Lutheran and the Ger- 
man Reformed congregations there with lots for church and burial 
purposes. But in spite of this secularization he continued to be 
a Lutheran circuit rider as busy and unwearied as ever. 

Before Stoever left York county, other denominations became 
active in these regions. In 17388, the German Baptists had formed 
a congregation on the Conewago, near Hanover. 

Many German Reformed had come with the early Lutheran 
immigrants and for some years (perhaps ten) threw in their lot 
with them, at least Stoever baptized many of their children. 


First MIssionarRy TO First Synop ti 


Although not organizing during his pastorate here, the Scotch- 
Irish Presbyterians began to settle in the present Chancefords 
and Hopewells in the southern part of York county, and the 
English Quakers began to move beyond the Conewagos northward. 

A few Church of England people (Episcopalians) were scat- 
tered here and there. With these English immigrants he had but 
little contact, but their language soon began to influence his 
parishioners. When Stoever left the county there were here some 
thousands of inhabitants, but York had only eleven houses to 
boast of (Prowell, 688). Practically the whole district was com- 
posed of a rural population. 

At this point appears the second minister who did good work 
on our territory in the person of Rev. David Candler, concerning 
whom as yet very little is known. Where he came from and how 
he became a minister is a mystery. It is the opinion of Dr. 
Beale Schmucker that Rev. Caspar Stoever inducted him into the 
office for the express purpose of appointing him as his successor 
in the growing field beyond the river. He says, in his history of 
Christ Church (p. 8), ‘“The reasons for this conclusion are that 
Pastor Stoever’s pastoral acts continue unbroken until April 28, 
1743, on which day he baptizes for the last time and on that day 
Pastor Candler’s baptisms begin. Whether Mr. Candler was at 
that time an ordained minister or not is unknown, as no trace of 
him has been found before that date, except that he was married 
and had several children, whose names he entered in the church 
record at Hanover, after he had begun it. But if not before or- 
dained, he was without doubt ordained by Stoever, and perhaps 
April 28th. Pastor Candler did not settle at York, but on the 
Conewago, about one mile southwest of where Hanover now 
stands, where, in May of the same year, he began to gather a 
congregation and provided a place of worship for them in the house 
built for him. He also began to minister to the congregation on 
the Monocacy about ten miles this side of Frederick, and he or- 
ganized that at Frederick, all in 1748. His charge reached from 
the Susquehanna to the Potomac, and he took up his residence 
in the center of the field. 

Rev. Candler, as we have seen, also was pastor at Conewago, 
whose first pastor he was. There being no evidence to the con- 
trary, We must consider him as the real founder of that congrega- 
tion. 

“At first the congregation met for worship in Pastor Candler’s 
house, which stood very near where the trolley crosses the Western 
Maryland Railroad. But in the summer of 1743 a log house of 
worship was erected on the north side of the McSherrystown 
(macadam) road, about one mile southeast of the present sanctu- 
ary. 

“The building was solemnly dedicated to the worship of God 
as a Church of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession. The Reformed 


38 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


claimed no right or ownership, but certain privileges were accorded 
them, under careful supervision by the vestry or wardens, as the 
officials were called. This sanctuary served the congregation for 
thirteen years. Some traces of the graveyard, in which it stood, 
are still visible, but of the appearance of the building absolutely 
nothing is known, save that it was a structure of most primitive 
form; yet no more thankful worshippers ever assembled to hear 
the word of God in the most magnificient cathedral.” (Dr. Koller.) 

It is interesting to study primitive church architecture. The 
flocks in the wilderness, even before they had attained a name, 
looked about for a habitation. Barns and cabin homes were of 
necessity the first sanctuaries. Sometimes even the canopy of 
the heavens was the only dome of the forest congregations. The 
first buildings were constructed of logs and were so easily put up 
that one is surprised that it took the Lutherans on the Codorus 
and Conewago so long to secure one. But we must remember 
that the immigrant settlers had for generations been coddled by 
state churches, where the government did everything for them in 
eccelesiastical lines; hence they had never attained the power of 
initiative and self-reliance; nor were they in ethnical temperament 
as aggressive as some other nationalities are, and they were very 
busy with their own private affairs. They wanted some one, like 
the pastor, to lead, and Stoever did not have time to build churches 
west of the Susquehanna. We have seen that as soon as his 
suecessor, Candier, got on the ground on the Conewago, the pro- 
ject of securing a sanctuary was set on foot and succeeded the first 
year. One vear later (1744) the congregation on the Codorus 
followed the example. Dr. Beale Schmucker thinks they must 
have had somewhere east of the creek a special house in which 
their services were held, at least during the latter years of Stoever’s 
incumbency. Certainly, the demands of a growing congregation 
could not have been met in the usually small forest cabins or sta- 
bles of the period. If there was aschool-house or sanctuary in the 
valley, where the regular services were held, all vestiges of its 
existence have disappeared. But when in 1741 the town of York 
was laid out, the Penns donated lots for church purposes. This 
offer suggested the idea of concentrating their efforts and crystal- 
izing their spiritual longings on one spot, and thus soon, though 
not as soon as We would have expected it to be done, the Lutherans 
established their church home in Yorktown. Like that at Han- 
over, 1t was built under Candler’s administration; it was a rect- 
angular log structure, and did not cost much money. The land 
was donated, and still is owned by the congregation. The timber 
no doubt also was freely given, cut and hauled without charge. 
The only labor usually paid in primitive church-building was the 
carpenter’s work in hewing, notching, chinking, in constructing 
windows, doors, and seats. There was no need of the mason’s 
art. The undergirding of logs rested on the bare ground. Usual- 


First Missionary TO First SynNop 39 


ly the blacksmith’s craft was enlisted, although in some instances 
all the joining was done with wooden pins. We are not told how 
the first temples on the Codorus and on the Conewago Were con- 
structed or furnished. We do not have the builder’s specifications. 
No doubt the plan only existed in the architect’s brain and never 
was put in blue print. But originally the rule was not to have a 
chimney or fireplace. Stoves had not yet been invented. When 
fires were made, they were made on the outside, where the people 
warmed themselves before they entered the church for worship. 
The floor usually was tamped mother earth. The seats were 
smoothed backless planks with legs, later called puncheons. The 
pulpit often was only a block of hollowed-out wood open at one 
side for the admission of the preacher. At first it was not highly 
elevated, because the roof was too low. Later it was fastened to 
the wall, like a swallow’s nest, and ascended by a winding stair- 
ease. The altar was a common round table with no railing before it. 

Such in general outlines were the churches which Rev. Candler 
was happy to see erected under his administration, near the 
streams whose names they bore. But it 1s a fact of history all 
through Pennsylvania that these strong buildings did not long 
endure. The most terrific storms could not blow them down. 
An earthquake could not have demolished them, but they had no 
protection against the tooth of the elements. Neither wooden 
walls nor shingled roofs were painted. Unless the chinks between 
the superimposed logs were closely watched, leakage would soon 
take place. ‘The sun would crack the logs, the rains would water- 
soak them. Having only one door and a few windows, want of 
light and fresh air would produce dampness and thus decay would 
set in both inside and outside. As a consequence, the first church 
on the Conewago lasted only thirteen years and that on the Co- 
dorus only sixteen. This was about the average age of such 
structures in the wilderness. 

Concerning the log church at York, Dr. Beale Schmucker 
says: ‘‘The date of its consecration is unknown, but we hope that 
the declining strength of the pastor lasted long enough to allow 
him to witness the happy result of his labors and see completed 
the church in which, besides its pastors, Muhlenberg, Brunholz, 
Handschuh, and Kurtz would preach as visitors.”’ 

After May, 1744, Rev. Candler made no entries in Christ 
Chureh book. His health failed and he died at Hanover in De- 
eember of that year. He was buried in the graveyard near bis 
home, but the mound that marked his resting place has disap- 
peared. No effort was made to keep the spot sacred. Besides 
this, all we know of him is that he had a son named David, who 
was born in 1740 and that this son married Miss Catharine Dinkle, 
of York, and was a respectable citizen and faithful Lutheran all 
his life. 

The funeral sermon at the burial of Rev. David Candler was 


40 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


preached by Rev. Laurentius Nyberg, a Swede, who had just 
recently located at Lancaster. Thus lived and died a minister of 
the early days, a primitive church-builder, whom Dr. Koller 
numbers among true conservators and of whom he further says, 
“Although his personal history is shrouded in much uncertainty, 
his recorded acts are epoch-making—they impart the right ten- 
dency to institutions and insure the future against chaos and 
misrule.”’ 

On November 25, 1742, another great pastor and missionary 
came upon the stage of Lutheran operations in this country. His 
predecessors Were in a sense only workers; he was that, but also 
pre-eminently an organizer. His activities extended from Phila- 
delphia and vicinity, whither he had been called by three con- 
gregations and sent by the Halle Lutherans, in Germany, all the 
way to Georgia. He was the founder of the first Synod, and was 
so influential as a counselor and leader, that he has often been 
called ‘“‘Patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America.’ So much 
has been written about him in books, which are easily available, 
that in this history we can speak only of his relation to the devel- 
opment of the work in our territory. 

Muhlenberg paid his first visit to the Lutherans on our side 
of the Susquehanna in May, 1746. Of this visit he gives an ac- 
count in his own words. 

“From Lancaster I was called to a large congregation on the 
other side of the Susquehanna River, near the outmost borders of 
Pennsylvania, touching on Maryland. This congregation had oc- 
casionally been visited by Herr Nyberg, so long as he was con- 
sidered a genuine Lutheran preacher. The congregation consists 
of one hundred and ten families. Nyberg had promised to pro- 
cure for them another pastor from Sweden, but after the quarrel 
at Lancaster had begun, they would not have any further dealings 
with him. In that congregation I had to baptize a number of 
children and to confirm some whom the parochial teacher had 
instructed.” (Mann p. 166.) It is necessary to illuminate this 
description of another age so as to understand it. The large 
congregation to which he refers is that of Christ Church in York, 
which as a town had been established, as already stated, by John 
Penn, in 1741. But it still was on the map of Lancaster County, 
from which it was not separated before 1749. On this trip Muh- 
lenberg did not proceed farther into our field. 

The quarrel which he mentions was caused by Rev. Lars T. 
Nyberg, a Swede, who came to America in 1744 and took charge 
of our German church in Lancaster. He professed to be a Luth- 
eran, but secretly was a Moravian, or follower of Count Zin- 
zendorf, who for a while without authority claimed to be superin- 
tendent of the Lutherans in Philadelphia and elsewhere. In 
Lancaster in this very year of Muhlenberg’s first visit he disrupted 


First MIssIoNARY TO First SYNOD Al 


the congregation and took out a swarm of his own partisans to 
form a rival organization. 

When in December, 1744, shortly after Nyberg’s arrival in 
this country, Pastor Candler died at Hanover, the supposedly 
Lutheran Swede preached his funeral sermon. The Conewago 
members and others from surrounding communities asked him 
to take temporary charge of them and send to Sweden for a per- 
manent pastor. ‘““He began at once, not only at Lancaster, but at 
York, Conewago, Monocacy, and wherever he labored, to lay his 
plans to carry the congregation over to the Moravians and near 
the close of 1745 called a Moravian Conference at Lancaster. 
So soon as he had thrown off the cloak, the congregations rose up 
in resistance against him. In York the struggle was an especially 
severe one, as the Reformed Pastor, Rev. Jacob Lischy, was of 
the same mind and in the same concealed relation to the Mora- 
vians with him. They worked together with great heartiness and 
were assisted by brethren from Bethlehem. In and all around 
York they brought many to take sides with them. In 1746 a 
Moravian Synod was held at Kreutz Creek. Nyberg brought 
two Moravian missionaries from Bethlehem and tried to settle 
one as pastor of the Lutheran Church at York and the other at 
Monocacy. But the eyes of the majority of the members were 
now fully opened and they locked the doors on him in all the 
Lutheran churches from York to Frederick.” (B.M. Schmucker). 


It was on account of their sad experience with Nyberg and 
the consequent confusion, that the York congregation appealed to 
Muhlenberg to send them a preacher from Halle. Alas, there 
were as yet only two of them, Muhlenberg and Brunnholz, and 
two catechists, in this country. So it was impossible to grant 
their request. But it was in their interests that this first visit 
was made. However he had to leave their vacancy unsupplied. 
Their parochial teacher read sermons to them every Lord’s Day, 
taught the children the catechism, and thus kept the faithful part 
of the congregation intact waiting for a brighter day. 

In June, 1747, Muhlenberg visited our region a second time— 
not only York, but also Conewago, Monocacy, and Frederick. 
With a companion he rode from Lancaster, crossed.the river in a 
boat, in a raging storm which almost capsized it, and arrived at 
York at midnight where a number of people were awaiting him. 
Promising to tarry longer on his return, having arrived on June 
19th, he left on the 22nd and went to Hanover. ‘They reached 
the Conewago congregation, which they found in equal confusion. 
Here also Nyberg had friends and antagonists. Muhlenberg spoke 
in kindness to them and made efforts to reconcile them. He 
enjoyed, apparently, the respect of both sides. He promised 
them that as soon as one of the invited ministers should settle at 
York they would from time to time be visited, and that, if ever 


42 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


possible, he would find a good teacher for them, to instruct the 
youth and on Sundays to read a sermon to the congregation. 

“On June 23, Muhlenberg preached to them in a large 
barn, as many people had assembled from near and far. Some 
requested the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, but he was obliged 
to refuse, saying that they needed first proper repentance for their 
sins and application of the word of God. He baptized some 
children, at the same time reminding parents and sponsors of their 
duties. He also met with some who in the very first years of his 
labors had been members of his congregations, and, hearing him 
proclaim the word of God, were now moved to tears and bitterly 
complained that they were without the means of grace.” (Mann 
». 190). 

From Hanover Muhlenberg started in a drenching rain 
traveling until 2 a. m. with two men who had come from Maryland 
to conduct him to Monocacy and Frederick. After his mission at 
those places was accomplished, on June 26, he and his traveling 
companion started homeward again. That night they spent in 
Hanover, apparently without holding a service, and the following 
day at noon they arrived at York. 

It was a Saturday. That afternoon Muhlenberg held pre- 
paratory service. The following Sunday so many people were 
present, some having come twenty miles, that half of them were 
compelled to stand on the outside of the log church. Muhlenberg 
baptized some children and confirmed a class of ‘‘fifteen young 
people amid plenteous tears, and ministered the Lord’s Supper to 
two hundred communicants and then closed the public service of 
the Sunday, the whole congregation on bended knees giving 
thanks unto the Father, in Christ Jesus, for all his unmerited 
grace.” (B. M. Schmucker, p. 16). 

After the death of Rev. Candler, at Hanover, in 1744, there 
was a vacancy in York and Hanover until 1748, when a licentiate, 
by the name of John Helfrich Schaum, teaching school in the 
Philadelphia congregation, came to take charge. Rev. J.T. Hand- 
schuh, of Lancaster, and another teacher from Philadelphia, by 
the name of J. F. Vigera, accompanied him to the Codorus on 
the 17th of May of that year. The new pastor was left in York, 
while Rev. Handschuh and Mr. Vigera proceeded to Hanover. 


CHA Pale it 
THe First SYNop 


The first effort to organize a general Lutheran body, composed 
of congregations as units, made in 1744, ended in failure, because 
some wanted to include the Moravians, and because the Germans 
and the Swedes could not agree on liturgy. But in a sense the 
three congregations that had called Muhlenberg, St. Michael’s, 
Philadelphia. New Hanover, and the Trappe, were a general body, 
for they subsisted under the title of ‘““The United Congregations,”’ 
and always acted jointly. However, the first organization that 
can be called a Synod took place in Philadelphia in August, 1748. 
Because at first ministers alone had a vote, and laymen only re- 
ported the conditions of the congregations, it received the name 
of Ministerium. The call was sent out by Muhlenberg, pastor of 
the three United Congregations, plus Rev. Peter Brunholz, pastor 
at Germantown, and was extended to Tulpehocken, Lancaster 
and York. 

The occasion was the dedication of the new St. Michael’s 
and the ordination of Rev. J. N. Kurtz, the pastor at Tulpehocken 
(Lebanon County). The York congregation, though invited, was 
not represented, because the notice was received too late. That 
York, as well as Tulpehocken and Lancaster, were already con- 
sidered as an equal and not simply as a filial in the case, appears 
in the wording of the invitation, which was relayed by the pastor 
at Lancaster. As this document was the first recognition of the 
official status of a congregation on our side of the river, it may 
have a place here. 

“To our beloved brethren in the faith, the deacons and elders and 
members of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation at York: 
“The Gracious Hand of our God, with respect to our brethren in 
the faith, has led to the necessity of ordaining Mr. Kurtz as a 
pastor, consecrating with proper solemnities the church at Phila- 
delphia, and holding in connection with it a general Church con- 
vention. The time appointed is the approaching Tenth Sunday 
after Trinity, and the succeeding Monday, and probably Tuesday. 
To these peaceful and public solemnities we have been compelled 
to issue, in haste, the invitation to the church councils, deacons 
and elders of each of the congregations connected with us. We 
ask you, therefore, to be so kind as to appoint one of your deacons 
and, if possible, our dear brother, Mr. Eichelberger, and to send 


43 


44 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


him, at your expense, to Philadelphia. Since also Mr. Billmeier,. 
our worthy brother in the Lord, desires, within the next three 
weeks, to make a trip to Philadelphia, it will do no harm if he 
also attend the meeting. Kindly invite him, therefore, to arrange 
to accompany Mr. Hichelberger, so as to be in Philadelphia by 
next Saturday evening. If, however, his business prevent, and 
your circumstances so permit, you might defray either all or the 
half of his traveling expenses. Confer as to what can be done, 
without any great loss on your part. Leave your preacher, our 
beloved Brother Schaum, at home, since he must preach next 
Sunday in Connawaka, and can not travel so far, and my dear 
brother in the ministry is, for other reasons, in some uncertainty. 
I will expect, therefore, to meet One of your deacons, and, if pos- 
sible, Mr. Billmeier, next Saturday evening in Philadelphia. The 
Lord bless you all. May He prosper every effort for the glory of 
His Name, and the extension of His Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
and, according to His mercy, give your delegates and brethren a 
safe and pleasant journey! 

“Mr. Brunnholtz would have invited you with his own hand, 
but he thought the invitation would be too late. I have thought 
I would see if it were still feasible, because of the especial love I 
have for you, my dear brethren in the faith. I remain as ever, 
your faithful brother and minister of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

John Frederick Handschuh. 
Lancaster, August 8th, 1748. 
P. S.—It was not until Saturday afternoon that I received this 
information.” 

Accordingly “the first General Conference or Synod” was held 
on August 15, 1748. The protocol states that 
“To New York across the Susquehanna, where Mr. Schaum is 
stationed, Mr. Handschuh had written, but on account of the 
shortness of the time, and the length of the way, no one was 
here.’ In this note ‘““New York,” of course, means “‘Little York.” 

In the weak condition of our congregations in this new land, 
Satan saw to it that the kingdom of God should not move on 
smoothly. The country was overrun by free lances in religion, 
preaching adventurers, who to get the wool often made sad havoc 
of the sheep. ‘They were the apostles of disorder and lawlessness, 
accountable to nobody but themselves, and always preying upon 
other men’s folds. From the beginning these vagabonds operated 
in our district. This fact is revealed in the accounts we have of 
the second meeting of the Ministerium, in 1749, in Lancaster. 
Of its transactions we have no secretarial record. So we must 
depend upon Muhlenberg’s report to the Halle fathers and upon 
Pastor Handschuh’s diary. The Lancaster meeting was attended 
by “Pastor Schaum and his church council from Yorktown.’ 
Mr. Muhlenberg’s account runs thus: 

“The congregation at Yorktown, in Pennsylvania, where Mr. 


THe First SYNOD 45 


Schaum had been stationed up to this time, earnestly requested 
us to ordain their preacher, because Valentine Kraft and his fol- 
lowers Were intimating there that Mr. Schaum’s official acts were 
not valid. Since we already had provisional permission from our 
most worthy Fathers, we appointed the fourth of June for the 
ordination, and the fifth for the General Conference in the city 
of Lancaster.”’ 

Mr. Handschuh’s diary says: 

“About five o’clock (June 3), we preachers entered upon an 
examination of our former helper, Mr. Schaum, which we con- 
ducted in turn, amid many useful reminiscences. After it was 
finished, we had the elders, deacons, and other members of the 
congregation at York on the Codorus, who were present, come 
before us, and talked with them about Mr. Schaum’s call and 
ordination.” 

These preachers were Muhlenberg, Brunnholtz, Handschuh, 
and Kurtz, who signed the call extended to Mr. Schaum on the 
spot, and the next day ordained him. (Doc. His. pp., 24, 25). 

In the “revers,’”’ or agreement, signed by the Yorktown dele- 
gation they acknowledge these four ministers as ‘‘their rightful 
teachers”? and Rev. Schaum promises to be their ‘‘assistant,’’ and 
thus is he styled in the record of the next meeting in the following 
year, without, however, thereby apparently indicating any sub- 
ordinate position. However, the congregation to such an extent 
recognized the authority of the Ministerium as to consult it even 
in its internal affairs. For the account of the convention of 1750 
contains this item: ‘‘At York, Schoolmaster Moul, on account of 
his age, desires to be relieved from further service; but he and his 
congregation received from us ministers a certificate authorizing 
himecotconmnue. .6(10c. 113s... pro.) 


In 1752 Rev. Schaum was ordered to preach at Fredericks- 
town, Md., as often as possible. ) 

The Minutes of 1762, ten years later, have in parenthesis 
the following item: 


‘‘“After dinner some rested awhile, others went together into 
his (Provost Wrangel’s) garden, others shut themselves in a room 
to discuss in quiet all manner of congregational and ministerial 
matters, especially concerning Yorktown.” (Doc. His., p. 66). 

The reason for this colloquium was the fact that Yorktown 
and its filials had just become vacant by the resignation of Rev. 
Lucas Raus, who had taken charge in 1758, to succeed Rev. 
Schaum, who had left in 1755. It is at this time that we begin 
to find notices of such ancient seats of religious worship as Wolf’s, 
Kreutz Creek, Carlisle, Shuster’s, St. John’s (near Littlestown), 
Stone Church (Glenville) and Quickel’s churches. We have al- 
ready heard of Lower Bermudian, where there then was not only 
a Lutheran congregation, but also an offshoot of the Ephrata 


46 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


community of Seventh Day Dunkards. But our affairs were in 
great turmoil and confusion. (Sachse). 

Rev. Schaum came to Yorktown as the first resident Luth- 
eran pastor of that town. Rev. Candler, for some reason, had 
resided in Hanover. After his death a vacancy, lasting five years, 
occurred. This gave the wolves a fine opportunity to worry the 
flocks, which they did in high dudgeon. Nyberg the crypto- 
Moravian always was on hand to proselytize. ‘The nomadic free- 
lance preachers sowed the seeds of prejudice against the Minis- 
terium. The disturbances were so serious and the defections so 
many and influential, that if it had not been for the good work 
of the aforementioned teacher, Bartholomaus Maul, who regularly 
read sermons to the congregation and faithfully instructed the 
children in the catechism, the entire cause in York might have 
been lost. Mr. Schaum, who had inherited these deeply-rooted 
evils and not being able to overcome them, partly on account of 
being incapacitated by a broken leg, and suffering several sore 
bereavements besides, finally was driven away. 


One of the illustrative incidents of those troublous times is 
related by Dr. B. M. Schmucker in his history of the Lutheran 
Church in York. It is concerning a Redemptioner, by the name 
of John Samuel Schwerdfeger, a wayfaring student of theology. 

“After wandering about for a time he fell into the hands of 
emigrant agents and was shipped from Holland to Baltimore, 
where, being unable to pay for his passage, his time would have 
been sold, when the opponents of pastor Schaum bought his 
freedom and brought him to York. They succeeded in securing 
his ordination by some minister, of whom Mr. Muhlenberg says 
they called themselves the orthodox Lutherans, and denounced 
the United Ministers as Hallenser and unorthodox. Mr. Schwerd- 
feger thereafter ministered to the separated faction and had 
charge of several congregations in the country, which had not 
been connected with the synod”. (pp. 23, 24). 

Under these conditions party spirit burned hotly. Several 
men, one Hochheimer and one Kirchner, preached awhile, but for 
three years more everything that was done only seemed to bring 
new fagots to the raging fire, which satan had succeeded in raising 
as a destructive conflagration in the frail church in the wilderness. 

In 1758 the two factions at Yorktown united in calling Rev. 
Lucas Raus from Goschenhoppen in eastern Pennsylvania. Being 
at this time alienated from the United Lutheran pastors and 
especially from Muhlenberg, he neither informed them of his de- 
parture from his old charge, over which they had placed him, nor 
of his acceptance of a new one. In this independent relation he 
labored in Yorktown and several rural congregations for five years 
with great success. In 1762 the log church was razed and a large 
stone building erected in its place. In 1761, Mr. Raus after a 
long absence, attended the Ministerium at Lancaster and made 


Tue First SyNop 47 


serious charges against Mr. Muhlenberg with reference to doctrine 
and conduct, which were not sustained by a Swedish arbitration 
committee. Inpartial history has long decided that the great 
Patriarch was strictly orthodox in Lutheran doctrine. As to 
conduct, the chief complaint of Mr. Raus simmered down to a 
suspicion that the United Ministers, receiving large sums of money 
from Germany, divided it among themselves without giving him 
any of it. This charge also had no foundation whatever. 

The outcome of conditions was that Mr. Raus was asked to 
resign. He spent the remainder of his career in York County in 
the practice of medicine and preaching. He seems to have 
founded several union congregations in the rural districts, most 
assuredly that of St. Lukes, in Chanceford, and perhaps also of 
Rossville, in Warrington, Canadochly, near the River, and Zion’s 
in Newberry, Freysville and Bleimeier’s, and Strayer’s. At 
least, he often preached at these places as well as at the older 
congregations at Bermudian and Dover and Shuster’s between 
1763 and the year of his death in 1789. In 1762 he baptized 
children in Carlisle. From 1770 to 1787 he was pastor of Shuster’s 
congregation. At Hanover he did not preach, the pastor there 
being Rev. John George Bager, who however during the previous 
vacancy at York sometimes supplied its pulpit. This was during 
his first residence in our territory. Later, having gone to New 
York in 17638, and returning in 1767, and taking charge at York- 
town, he then supphed Hanover from the latter place, but fi- 
nally moved to Hanover again, where, after serving congregations 
as far removed as Baltimore and Franklin County, and founding 
Upper Bermudian, he died. 

Mr. Bager was the last minister who preached at both the 
important points. At this stage the congregation on the Codorus 
and the congregation on the Conewago ceased to be filials. But 
previously there preached at Hanover several men who were not 
pastors, yet occasional or temporary disturbers, at York. Ny- 
berg has already been mentioned. Besides him were such rene- 
gades as Carl Rudolph and Valentine Kraft. Just before Mr. 
Raus came on the scene there were in York two men of whom it 
is not known that they preached at Hanover. One was George 
L. Hochheimer. The other was John Casper Kirchner, who 
preached at Shuster’s from 1763 to 1767 and probably organized 
that congregation; also at Stone Church and Stelze’s. 

In Muhlenberg’s account, in his diary, of the Ministerium of 
1763 occurs this item: 

“A messenger (Nicolaus Budinger) arrived from the congre- 
gations in and about Conewago across the Susquehanna, with 
letters to the Ministerium, in which request was made for a 
preacher. But if they could not at present be supplied with one 
they asked for a certain catechist, C. W., who formerly had held 
school among them, and had already conducted worship in Win- 


48 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


chester, in Virginia, from which place he had come to them on 
account of Indian disturbances.” (Doc. His. p. 74). 

After a long debate this request was granted. The initials 
C. W. must be an error, as the item refers to Rev. John Frederick 
Wildbahn, who was pastor of Hanover and nine other congrega- 
tions until 1782. Dr. J. C. Koller says he organized Sherman’s 
congregation, near Hanover, and St. John’s, near Littlestown. 

Another long debate took place at the same meeting over a 
request also handed in by Mr. Biedinger from the congregations 
in Manchester and Paradise Township, beyond Yorktown. On 
page 71 these places are said to be in Pennsylvania, and on page 
79 that they all are “filials of Yorktown”. But Manchester was 
in Maryland. The Paradise Township congregation was Holz- 
schwam. They asked to be taken under the supervision of the 
Ministeritum, that aid should be given them, and that they might 
retain an exemplary teacher by the name of Schwarbach as cate- 
chist. The request was granted. He seems to have served from 
1763 to 1766. (Doc. His. p. 84). 

The case of Rev. Wildbahn, who, according to the account of 
the Ministerium, went to Hanover in 1763, came up again in 
1768. Muhlenberg devotes nearly five pages (92-95) to the sub- 
ject. It is interesting historical reading, but too long to quote 
here. Five or six small congregations along the borders of the 
frontiers of Pennsylvania and Maryland had asked for his ordi- 
nation. At the same time several people opposed him. He had 
come to America with the English army, had first taught in one 
of the English charity schools beyond the Susquehanna and then, 
in German parochial schools. The united ministers at first were 
not inclined to license him, but considering the crying needs of 
the people, and the fact that other men in the vicinity were per- 
forming ministerial acts, they finally agreed that Rev. Wildbahn 
should be authorized to continue his work. 

Mr. Wildbahn’s case was aggravated by the fact that he had 
been placed under the care of the pastor at York, who at this time 
was a Swede by the name of Hornell, who had to be asked to 
demit the ministry, because of a shameful crime he had committed 
in the old country years before. Even in those days of slow and 
crude communication between continents, a man’s former rep- 
utation finally followed him wherever he went. The ocean was 
not wide enough to hide a villainous deed in the wilds of America. 
The result was sad for the congregation and hurtful to the cause . 
of the Kingdom of God. Hence Muhlenberg remarks concerning 
Mr. Wildbahn’s ministry, “The communion. however, was to be 
administered at stated times by the ordained preacher at York- 
town. But, alas! it was not long before the verdict concerning 
the Swedish-German preacher was reported by the Honorable 
Consistorium in Sweden, and he was excluded from our Minister- 
ium, and the catechist again was left alone.” (Doc. His. p. 93). 


Tue First SyNoD 49 


But at the meeting of 1769 his five or six congregations pre- 
sented such favorable testimonials to his doctrine and life that he 
was unanimously received into the Ministerium. (Doc. His. p. 118). 

At the same meeting the Yorktown congregation was repre- 
sented by a most honorable school-teacher and lay-reader by the 
name of Philip Deutsch who brought a letter from the church 
council pleading that the Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz should be sent 
to them. But that experienced and able man was the beloved 
and successful pastor of the Tulpehocken congregations and those 
people were very much disinclined to give him up. The conse- 
quence was a long and earnest debate, in which every man in the 
body took part. Mr. Kurtz submitted himself entirely to the 
authority of the Ministerium and agreed to abide by its judg- 
ment. Finally the decision was reached that on account of the 
unsettled condition at York his services there were more neces- 
sary than in the well-ordered and peacable congregations in Tul- 
pehocken. (Doce. His. pp. 111, 118). 

Thus this strong minister, the first one ordained by the Min- 
isterium, at its first convention in 1748, began his successful and 
notable service in York and vicinity, where he labored nineteen 
years. His itineraries extended as far as Conococheague in Mary- 
land, which in the year 1770 was separated from McCallisterville 
(Hanover), where Mr. Wildbahn still was pastor, while Rev. 
Bager resided in the Conewago district and served old congrega- 
tions in What now is Adams County. Rev. Kurtz divided the re- 
mainder of York County Lutheranism with Rev. Raus. In 1771 
Rev. Kurtz (Doc. His. pp. 126, 129, 130) became President of the 
Ministerium. 

Although on account of the disturbed condition of the country 
there was no session of the Ministerium held in 1775, in 1776, 
notwithstanding war between Great Britain and her colonies was 
in progress, the convention was held in York. There was, however, 
a small attendance. Only one of its acts is recorded, but that was 
a very important one. It was the ordination of Rev. Jacob 
Goering, the first Lutheran Minister born on our territory. This 
remarkable young man first saw the light among the river-hills 
in Chanceford Township, York County, in 1755 and, after a two 
years’ course under the tutorship of Rev. Helmuth, at Lancaster, 
while preaching in various places in that vicinity, now at the age 
of twenty-one years started upon a notable ministerial career. 

Several historians claim that Rev. Goering was the first 
pastor at Carlisle. This is a mistake. But he may have been 
the first who served at Shippensburg, where a fort was built in 
Eipo. 

In 1779, it was decided that the year following the Minister- 
ium should meet in Yorktown, but for unknown “weighty reasons’”’ 
this could not be done. 

In the minutes of 1781 there is the record of action which 


50 History oF WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


seems to indicate that Rev. Goering either had not at that time 
yet begun his ministry at Carlisle and Shippensburg, or that he 
could not give them adequate service. In that year these two 
congregations, in addition to Chambersburg (first mentioned here) 
were reported by Rev. J. G. Young, of Hagerstown, in these 
words; “Rev. Mr. Jung explained the need of these congregations, 
and reported that they would be well able to keep a pastor of 
their own’’. It was therefore “Resolved, that the neighboring 
preachers be requested to visit these congregations as often as 
possible and administer the sacraments, and the congregations be 
exhorted to keep a Reader, who shall be able to attend to the 
instruction of children, to lead the singing, ete.” (Dis. His. pp. 
tipo, A AeN 

Inasmuch as Rev. Goering himself was present when this 
action was passed, he must only afterwards have become regular 
pastor of the first mentioned congregations. He immediately 
moved to Dover. His first charge consisted of Strayer’s, Holz- 
schwam, Lower and Upper Bermudian, Carlisle and Shippens- 
burg (then called Lower Settlement). At least, in 1783 he va- 
cated Strayer’s, Holzschwam, Upper and Lower Bermudian, Car- 
lisle and Shippensburg. The Patriarch Muhlenberg understood 
that Rev. Goering was preaching at “six or seven’’ places. In 
that case “as a neighboring pastor’? Chambersburg, where he sup- 
plied, may have been the seventh. 

In 1781 Rev. J. N. Kurtz resigned the Presidency of the 
Mninisterium. 

In 1782, Rev. C. F. Wildbahn’s old congregations around 
Hanover asked for a new preacher, whom they offered 75 pounds 
and a parsonage. 

Thus fifty years after Missionary Stoever first set foot upon 
our present territory, the following congregations existed: Kreutz 
Creek, Canadochly, Christ, Wolf’s, Quickel’s, Bleimeier’s, Freys- 
ville, Stahle’s, Shuster’s, Fissel’s, Strayer’s, Holzschwam, Glenville, 
Sattler’s, Hanover, Sherman’s, St. John’s, Lower Bermudian, Up- 
per Bermudian, Carlisle, Shippensburg, Chambersburg. 

Up to this point in this history the records mostly refer to 
the confines of York and Adams Counties. From now on the 
planting of our Church in the bounds of Cumberland and Frank- 
lin Counties receive due consideration. 


CHAPTER IV 
FORETOKENS OF TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS 


In the year 1800 Adams County was formed from the western 
part of York County, and the Ministerium, according to the rule 
adopted in 1797, to meet every three years in this territory, met 
that year in Hanover, which still retained the old name of Mc- 
Allister. Of the absent ordained ministers, who were excused, 
Rev. Jacob Goering, of York, was sick. ‘‘Marck’s” congregation 
asked for a preacher and received permission to employ Rev. 
John Grob from Paradise Townshin, where he must have been a 
licentiate teacher. Mr. Conrad Rieman, residing near York, 
made application for license. The Abbottstown case, which had 
been postponed the year before, was called up for settlement. It 
was decided: | 

“1, That it is very wrong and unchristian arbitrarily to 
close the church to any preacher of the Gospel, and therefore the 
conduct against Rev. Schroeter, in Abbottstown, is disapproved; 
2. But, since, as it seems, the congregations can not be united 
unless they hold another free election for a preacher, such free 
election for any preacher in the Minister1um is recommended to 
the regular congregations, without injury to the union which has 
existed for years between the Conewago congregation (Hanover) 
and Abbottstown.” At this Hanover meeting Rev. John George 
Schmucker was ordained. (Doc. Hist. pp. 308-12). 

By the year 1801 the Ministerium had spread westward so 
far, and was covering such a vast territory, and its preachers on 
this side of “the River’? were so numerous, that henceforth we 
will confine this history mostly to the affairs and men who were 
more intimately related to our present bounds. 

Westmoreland County, Pa; Shenandoah County, Va; Hun- 
tingdon, Pa., Emmittsburg, Md; Martinsburg and Shepherds- 
town, W. Va; Selinsgrove, Pa; and North Carolina—these are 
some of the points that are mentioned in the minutes of that year. 
We have seen on previous pages that places still further west 
had been reported and provision made for them at former meet- 
ings. 

In 1801, the councils both of Chambersburg and of Ship- 
pensburg announced that they had to dismiss Rev. F. W. Jacinsky, 
“because they could no longer collect the salary promised him.”’ 
The Shippensburg council adds “‘that the separation from Sherer’s 
and Fallen Spring congregations is the reason for Mr. Jacinsky’s 
dismissal”. The Synod advised that Chambersburg, Shippens- 
burg and Sherer’s congregations “unite and remain united”. The 


ol 


52 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVAINA SYNOD 


reason Why Falling Springs is left out of the new adjustment is 
not stated. But as it had been committed to Rev. John Roth- 
rauff in 1799, he, as well as Mr. Jacinsky, was informed of this 
arrangement. (Doc. Hist. pp. 306, 317). : 

In 1802 there was trouble again at Shuster’s and Sattler’s 
churches. It was committed to Rev. John Grob for arbitration. 
At the same time he was recommended to Frederick (rural con- 
eregations, We suppose, because Rev. Geo. Schmucker was pastor 
in the town), but Frederick demurred and called Rev. Jacinsky. 
Candidate Frederick Moeller was asked to preach trial sermons 
at Chambersburg and Shippensburg. (Doc. Hist. pp. 325, 327). 

In 1802 the lamentable and puzzling case of Rev. Daniel 
Schroeter again bobbed up at the meeting of the Munisterium 
at Reading. The Conference of the York District had in- 
vestigated the renewed charges against him. A number of private 
accusers were cited against him. On the contrary ‘‘the testi- 
monials from four congregations of Mr. Schroeter in defense of 
his innocence were read. There were, however, several papers 
with names attached, which seem strange to the Ministertum; 
but an explanation was made by Mr. Schroeter, which, however, 
was not satisfactory to the Ministerium’’. After a defense of the 
accused pastor was read, both he and his accusers were asked to 
withdraw while the case was being considered. 

The result was that Mr. Schroeter was for the second time 
suspended from the ministry. But the severe sentence was tem- 
pered with mercy: 

“Resolved,—That the Ministerium regards Mr. D. Schroeter 
unworthy of being a member of the Ministerium until fruits meet 
for repentance be shown, in which case the Ministerium will not 
hesitate to receive him again with open arms.” (Doc. Hist. pp. 
327-8). 

In 1803 Manheim, York Co., was vacant and any minister 
desiring the pastorate was to inform the President privately. 
The Jerusalem congregation sent a letter to Synod, but its subject 
matter is not stated. Carlisle, being again vacant, desired Rev. 
Frederick Sanno. The congregation in Dover Township requested 
either to be united with York or with neighboring congregations, 
in case they would again be supplied ‘‘with a pious and able 
teacher.”’ A man charged Rev. F. V. Melsheimer with marrying 
his son ‘‘to a woman already married.’’ A committee on the case 
Was appointed, its report was discussed, but no decision is re- 
corded. 

“A congregation in York Township,’’ (likely Bleimeier’s) as 
well also Upper Bermudian and Stelze’s made written request for 
Rev. Conrad Rieman, who was received as a catechist and placed 
under the supervision of Rev. Melsheimer, of Hanover. 

Rev. John Grob from York Co. was ordained. (Doc. Hist. 
pp. 881-389). 


FORETOKENS OF TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS 53 


In 1804 very little of importance in our territory is recorded, 
though its interests reached to Ohio. Rev. Conrad Rieman, in 
answer to petitions from his people, was licensed. 

A request from Paradise Township (Holzschwam) for Rev. 
John Herbst was granted. 

The ordination papers of Rev. John Carl Rebenack, from 
Bender’s church, Adams Co., were approved and he was accepted 
“as a friend, like others in previous years, without being a full 
member, and that congregation united with us have full permission 
to accept him as pastor.”’ (Doc. Hist. pp. 343-7). 

The year 1805 did not witness many noted events in our 
region beyond the fact that Rev. John Herbst, pastor of Fissel’s, 
Holzschwam, ete., was ordained and Mr. John F. Melsheimer, son 
of Rev. F. Valentine Melsheimer, of Hanover, was received as a 
catechist, and that some money was collected for ministerial edu- 
Catone V0Calist pppoe, SOL). 

In 1806 Frieden’s, Bender’s, Zion’s and Arndt’s churches, in 
Adams Co., requested that Rev. Fred. Sanno, of Carlisle, should 
serve them, but Synod did not agree, and these congregations 
were assigned to the care of neighboring preachers. 

A statement was sent to Synod from St. John’s congregation, 
in Adams Co., which strikes a happier note than had been heard 
for years in the halls of Synod concerning a much-cited man, but 
it is accompanied by a complaint against another man. The 
statement is, ‘“That Mr. Daniel Schroeter has served the congre- 
gations since 1782, in peace and with blessing, and that he still 
serves the congregation.” 

The complaint says, ‘‘That division had arisen, because Rev. 
Mr. Grob (of Taneytown), without the knowledge and consent 
of Mr. Schroeter, had visited them and preached a sermon on 
Ascension Day (though Mr. Schroeter had previously announced 
services for that day) and then again announced services. The 
elders and various members of the congregation petition that they 
may be permitted in the future to hold their services in peace, 
unity, and undisturbed quiet.” 

The Synod decreed “that Mr. Grob be advised to abstain 
from all interference with the said congregation.’ (Doc. Hvist. 
pp. 368-9). 

In that year Mr. John F. Melsheimer was licensed. 

At the meeting of Synod, in 1807, Rev. Jacob Goering was 
elected President. He was the second minister west of the Sus- 
quehanna to hold the office. Alas, he also died during his in- 
cumbency in that same year. (Doc. Hist. p. 375). 

A Mr. John Koller in a letter to Synod made complaint 
against Rev. John Herbst, of York County, but the matter was 
adjusted. ‘The committee believes the accused will by the grace 
of God be careful to live ever more guardedly and blamelessly as 
a Christian and a pastor, so that all his efforts in word and life 


54 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


may more and more attain to the extension of true Christianity.” 
(Doc. Hist. p. 381). 


For the last time we hear of Rev. Augustus Ritz, formerly 
from York County, who sends a request from Waldboro, Maine, 
for permission to perform actus ministeriales. A certificate of 
license was granted. (Doc. Hist. p. 383). 

During the year 1808 but few notable events took place in 
our region. A conference was held at Fissel’s church, no doubt, 
to settle old disputes, but its report was not acted on further than 
that it was received. St. John’s, in Adams County, requested the 
services of Rev. Conrad Rieman, of Abbottstown, but not only 
was this request denied, but that gentleman also was advised to 
stay away from the fields of other pastors. (Doc. Hist. pp. 391-4). 

In the year 1809 Ministerium again met in Hanover. Rev. 
John Stauch and Rev. Simon, two pioneer traveling home-mis- 
sionaries from the state of Ohio, were present. 


At this meeting it was decided that Rev. John Grob, of Taney- 
town, should continue as pastor of St. John’s, Adams County, 
thus ending an old dispute, this decision being received as binding 
by all parties. (Doc. Hist. p. 405). 

Inasmuch as the Synod made a special effort at this convention 
to induce all pastors to hand in parochial reports, it will be in- 
teresting to note where each one was preaching and of which 
congregations the various charges then were composed. 


Rev. F. V. Melsheimer was pastor of four congregations— 
Hanover, “‘David’s church, Jacob’s church, and Kleindinst.”’ 

Rev. John Rothrauff was preaching at “Greencastle, Stras- 
burg, Mercersburg, McConnelstown, Falling Spring, Fisher’s, 
Jacob’s church, Appel’s church, Thomas Creek.”’ 

York, Quickel’s, Holzschwam, Wolfe’s, Kreutz Creek, and 
Canadochly were vacant. 

Rev. John Grob was preaching at “Taneytown, Emmittsburg, 
Silver Run, Catestown, Winters’, Mark’s and John’s church’’. 

Rev. John Herbst reported ‘‘Fissel’s, Shuster’s, Sadler’s, 
Zion’s, Jerusalem, and Krauter’s.”’ 

Rey. Frederic Sonno reported ‘Carlisle, Sherman’s Valley, 
Frieden’s church, Trentel’s church, and 7 vacant congregations’’. 

Rev. Conrad Rieman, of Abbottstown, reports eight congre- 
gations, without locating them. 

Rev. J. F. Melsheimer was preaching at ‘‘Bender’s and Arnd’s 
churches p(Doemiismpne cue. 

At the meeting of the Ministerium at Harrisburg, in 1810, 
Rev. J. G. Schmucker, of York was elected Secretary. 

“The Lisbon congregation,’ in Cumberland County, asked 
that Rey. David Kessler become their pastor. The request 
was granted. (Doc. His: p. 416). 

In 1811 Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, of Hanover, reeommended 


FORETOKENS OF TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS 8, 


Mr. Adam Rudisill as Catechist. He was authorized to become 
“fassistant to his teacher.” (Doc. His. p. 4384). 

In 1812, the Muinisterium met at Carlisle again. A. call 
given Mr. John Herbst, Jr., by ‘the congregations at Stahle’s, 
Bleymeier’s, Freyen, and Flinchbaugh’s, in York County,’ was 
ratified on condition that ‘‘he passes his examination.” (Doc. His. 
p. 489). 

At this same meeting Rev. J. F. Melsheimer, the pastor at 
Bender’s, Adams County, was ordained. 

In 18138, Rev. John Herbst, Jr., was given permission to serve 
“Jerusalem and Johannis Church,” in York County, in addition 
to his other congregations. | 

The same year a part of a congregation in Rye Township, 
Cumberland County, accepted as pastor a Mr. J. Preissler and 
asked that he be received into the Ministerium, but he was re- 
jected and the President was ordered to fraternally exhort him 
to abandon the ministry of the Word.” (Doc. His. pp. 454, 460.) 

In 1814, upon recommendation of Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, 
Rev. Adam Rudisill was appointed a traveling preacher in the 
State of Ohio, and Rev. Charles A. Morris was licensed. Rev. 
Rudisill remained in York County, serving congregations south of 
York; Rev. Morris served at Wrightsville and neighboring con- 
eregations a few vears, then demitted the ministry and became 
one of our most prominent laymen in York. (Doc. His. pp. 468-70). 

At the meeting of the Ministerium, in 1814, there took place 
an incident which was a foretoken that some day there would 
arise a movement to organize a synod on the west side of the 
Susquehanna. At the end of the synodical session, the usual vote 
to decide the time and place of the next year’s meeting was about 
to be taken. ‘‘But at this point several brethren from the west- 
side of the Susquehanna arose, and moved to recall the last year’s 
resolution of Synod, according to which the majority is always 
left free to decide upon any suitable place. They expressed the 
desire that the Synod might meet alternately every other time on 
their side. A motion to this éffect was made and carried.” (Doc. 
His p 469). 

Ever since 1800 there had been a standing rule that on every 
third year the Synod should be held on the west-side. But at the 
previous meeting, as here stated, this old rule had been rescinded 
and the choice of place was thereafter to be decided by the ma- 
jority. Inasmuch as the following year would be the regular 
time when according to the former rule, the meeting would auto- 
matically take place on the west side, but, according to the new 
rule might go elsewhere, the western brethren not only made sure 
of the next meeting, but also gained much more, namely, that the 
meetings should alternate yearly from one side of the River to 
the other. (Doc. His. p. 458). 

Consequently the next meeting was held at Frederick, Md. 


56 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In that year, 1815, the death of Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, of Hanover, 
was announced. Rev. Frederic Osterloh was allowed to accept a 
eall to the German Creek congregation, in Cumberland County. 
Rev. Adam Rudisill, too ill to attend Synod, nevertheless was 
desired by “the congregation in Gettysburg and Mark’s’”’. Rev. 
John Rieman, the pastor at Abbottstown, was ordained. (Doc. 
His. pp. 478-838). 

In the year 1816, the congregation in Sherman’s Valley, Cum- 
berland County, was committed into the care of Rev. J. P. Hecht, 
OlG@alliclosmt OCs. )s ma oo). 

In the year 1817, the tercentenary celebration of the Refor- 
mation, the Synod, now numbering ninety members, met in York. 
A special program for the great historical occasion was carried 
out. The local German Reformed, Moravian, FEispicopal and 
Presbyterian congregations were invited to participate in the 
Jubilee. ‘‘A request from congregations in Fairview and Newberry 
that they be permitted to receive Rev. Frederic Osterloh as their 
preacher” was granted. His residence was at Mechanicsburg. 
(Doc. His. pp. 501-6). 

He was ordained in 1819. (D. H. p. 540). 

Synod met that year in Baltimore, and Rev. J. G. Schmucker, 
of York, was elected president. 

The Minutes record that ‘A very beautiful letter from Mr. 
C. A. Morris, in which he announces that for important reasons 
he has laid down his office” was submitted and read to the Synod. 
The President was asked to answer it. (Doc. His. p. 531). 

In a letter, signed by Rev. John Herbst, Jr., who now was at 
Gettysburg, “seven congregations in York County,” ask for a 
preacher, and promise him ample support. It was resolved that 
four of these seven—Kreutz Creek, Canadochly, Stahle’s, and 
Treysville—accept Rev. George Graber, and that the remaining 
three should call some other minister. 

Several congregations, in the vicinity of Newville, in Cum- 
berland County, requested a preacher with promise of adequate 
support. ‘Doc. His! p: 583). 

The congregation at Abbottstown, being vacant, earnestly 
pleaded for the services of Rev. J. F. Melsheimer, who had suc- 
ceeded his father at Hanover. Consent of Synod was given. 
(D0GeH ise 504)5 

Permission was given to Rev. Henry Stecher, on his way 
home to Macunsy, to preach in the congregation in York County, 
which Mr. Herbst resigned and, if called, to accept them. (Doc. 
His. p. 540). 

By 1820, for some reason Freysville and Stahle’s again were 
vacant and Rev. Stecher was asked to serve them “provided they 
furnish him regular support.” (Doc. His. pp. 550-557). 

In that year a petition from East Berlin, Adams County, 
and “Warrington” congregation in York County, near Rossville, 


FORETOKENS OF TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS iF 


asked that Mr. John Speck, “‘student of theology”? should become 
their preacher. ‘‘Provided he pass the examination,” the request 
was granted. (Doc. His. p. 558). 

The following item in the Minutes of Synod was prophetic: 

“As to the request of certain preachers to organize a Synod 
on the west-side of the Susquehanna, it was now resolved that 
this Synod will make no objection whatever if a new Synod be 
organized on the west side of the Susquehanna.’’ 

But this general concession was made more definite in 1821. 
In the protocol of the latter year occurs this item: 

“Resolved, That the expression ‘On the west side of the Sus- 
quehanna’ (page 12 of the printed copy) be cancelled as incorrect, 
and the words ‘In Maryland and Virginia’ be inserted.’ (Doc. 
Hasepp.ood 0/2): 

At the meeting of 1820 Mr. Samuel 8. Schmucker, “‘student of 
theology,’ preached an English sermon and was licensed. (Doc. 
His. pp. 556, 566). 

Rev. Frederick Hall, in 1820, became pastor of the ‘‘congre- 
gations of Strasburg and Scherer’s in Franklin County. (Doc. 
Hise p. 588). 

The meeting of the Ministerium in 1821 took place in Cham- 
bersburg. 

A petition from a congregation in York County for Mr. 
Ludolf H. Myer was answered by a resolution “That Mr. Myer 
be granted a license to perform the office of candidate in the con- 
eregations in York County which desire him.” 

A congregation in Latimore Township, Adams County, asked 
that Candidate John Speck be allowed to serve them. The pe- 
tition Was granted. 

A Mr. George Eyster applied as a candidate, but was not 
accepted, because of insufficient knowledge to enter the ministry. 
However, he was given fatherly advice to continue his studies. 
(Doc. His. pp. 576-588). 

In 1822, the rule in force since 1797 that the Ministerium 
must meet every third year on the west-side of the Susquehanna 
was repealed. (Ger. Min. p. 18). 

According to this old standing resolution, now rescinded, the 
body should have met on this side in 1824. Consequently, in 
1823 both York and Carlisle, and also Selins Grove invited it to 
meet in their churches respectively. The question was put to 
vote and Carlisle was chosen as the place for the next convention. 
(Ger. Min. pp. 7, 19). 


OLED Meese Tes, AW 
Some More PRELIMINARY HISTORY 


Besides the definite formation of the first Conference on the 
west side of the River, which will receive consideration in the 
next chapter, other matters concerning this region received the 
attention of the Ministerium at its meeting in York in June 1783. 
The only ministers on hand at that meeting from our present 
territory were J. Nicholas Kurtz and Jacob Goering, from York, 
and George Bager and Daniel Schroeter, from Hanover. Rev. 
Goering had just transferred his residence from Dover to York, 
in order to become assistant to his father-in-law, Rev. Kurtz. 
Hence his former congregation, which he had served during the 
last seven years, being now vacant, sent a letter expressing their 
desire to have Rev. J. Frederick Ernest to become their pastor. 
These congregations were Upper Bermudian and Lower Bermud- 
ian, Dover, Paradise, Carlisle and Lower Settlement. ‘“They were 
referred to him, with the assurance that the Ministerium wished 
him great blessing, if it could be so arranged to the satisfaction of 
both parties. Rev. Mr. Ernest undertook to visit these congre- 
gations on his way home” (Doc. His. p. 189) Mr. Ernest lived in. 
Greenwich Co., New Jersey. Nothing ever came of his visit to 
this immense field and its attempt to secure him as its pastor. 

The beginning of trouble in union churches appeared at this. 
meeting. 

“Rev. Mr. Schroeter asked what he was to do in the case of 
several congregations, where the church-register and the collections: 
are held in common by Lutheran and Reformed. As the col- 
lections are used for the repair and preservation of the church- 
building, it was advised that for the sake of peace which is so 
necessary, he leave everything in statu quo.’ (Doc. His. p. 190). 

At the convention of 1784 only a few items concerned our 
territory. Complaint made by two elders from Silver Run 
against Rev. Daniel Schroeter and his defense, signed by some: 
others, occasioned the appointment of a special conference. 

Mr. John Daniel Kurtz, a son of Rev. J. Nicholas Kurtz, of 
York, was recommended for licensure. He had taken a private 
theological course under Dr. Henry Muhlenberg, Jr., at Lancas- 
ter. After a thorough examination in Hebrew, and Greek ex- 
egesis, he was asked to answer a series of theological questions in 
writing. His answers having been very satisfactory, the Min- 
isterlum decided to grant him ‘‘a license to administer the Word 


08 


SoME Morr PRELIMINARY HISTORY 59 


and Sacraments in congregations to which the elder Pastor Kurtz 
might send him.” (Doc. His. pp. 194, 196). In this capacity he 
served in our bounds for two years, but in which congregations 
he preached is not now known. In 1786 he became pastor in 
Baltimore where he administered his office until 1832. (Luth. 
Cyclo. p. 268). 

At this convention “the Trustees of the new College at Car- 
lisle’ (Dickinson) by letter asked for assistance for that institu- 
tion. Revs. J. N. Kurtz, of York, Rev. Emanuel Schulze, of 
Tulpehocken, and Rev. Henry Muhlenberg, Jr., were appointed 
commissioners ‘‘to answer orally, promising our assistance and 
support through contributions and recommendations.’ (Doc. His. 
Valo). 

In 1785 the congregation at New Holland called Rev. Jacob 
Goering and the congregations of the New Hanover Charge (Trap- 
pe, in Montgomery) desired either Rev. J. Nicholas Kurtz or his 
assistant, Rev. Goering. But neither of these ministers would 
leave York. 

This year again complaints were lodged against Rev. Daniel 
Schroeter, but this time from Zion’s congregation, in Baltimore. 
The subject-matter is not mentioned, but the congregation was 
informed “that the Ministerium has told Mr. Schroeter its opinion 
in reference to the matter, and hopes that he will act in accord- 
ance with the counsel given, and that thereby peace and unity 
may be restored.” (Doc. Hts. p. 200). 

At this convention of 1785, ‘‘Mr. Nicholas Kurtz reports, 
in his letter, that he 1s much concerned about several congrega- 
tions beyond the Susquehanna, and suggests a young man, who 
could be used as a catechist.’”?> The matter was left in Mr. Kurtz’s 
hand to make such arrangements in the case as he saw fit. If 
this action refers to a particular young man, as seems likely, we 
do not know who he was. Nor could we more than guess the 
names of the congregations that were in such dire need of spiritual 
oversight. (Doc. His. p. 200). 

However, it may be that the person who was in mind was 
Mr. Frederic David Schaeffer, for the Minutes of 1786 say that 
“Several congregations in York Township desire a Mr. Schaeffer 
as their pastor.” This young man was at the time teaching in 
the parochial school in York and at the same time studying theol- 
ogy under Rev. Jacob Goering. (Luth. Cyclo. p. 423). Upon 
the proposal of his name Mr. Schaeffer was immediately given a 
written examination. He seems also to have been accepted as a 
licentiate for the very next year (1787) we read that ‘‘A letter from 
Menallen Township (now in Adams Co.) was read, requesting that 
Mr. Fried. Schafer be permitted to remain with them,” which 
request was granted. (Doc. His. p. 214). 

In 1786 a communication was sent to the Ministerium from 
the ‘congregation in Yorktown, in which it expresses its satis- 


60 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


faction with its present preachers, Mr. Kurtz, Sr., and Mr. Goer- 
ing.” At the same time several complaints were lodged against 
Mr. Kurtz, Sr., “by a Reformed congregation in York County, 
which has an equal share in a church with a Lutheran congrega- 
tion.” Rev. Henry Muhlenberg and a Reformed preacher were 
appointed a committee to adjust the matter. (Doc. His. p. 210). 

At the meeting of 1787 Rev. George Baugher is reported as 
absent and styled pastor emeritus of the congregation at McAllister. 
In a letter signed by him and the church council, they ask for a 
new preacher. It was agreed that ‘The congregation shall be 
free to call any preacher of the Ministertum, and Mr. Schroeter 
(who has accepted a congregation formerly connected with Mac- 
Allister) will resign Abbetstown, if, and as soon as MacAllister and 
Abbetstown together can and will accept a preacher of their own 
out of the Ministerium.” (Doc. His. p. 214). 

It is worthy of note that in that year Mr. Schroeter reported 
1085 communicants and Mr. Schaeffer 148, these being the only 
two from this district who handed in parochial reports. 

At the convention of 1788 two letters from Cumberland 
County petitioned for the ordination of Mr. Schaeffer, “and 
spoke well of his conduct among them to the present. Upon 
request a part of his diary was read, with which the members of 
the Ministerium expressed satisfaction.’”? It therefore was re- 
solved that he ‘‘be ordained by a committee in one of the congre- 
gations which he serves.”’ (Doc. His. pp. 221, 222). 

In 1789 a letter from Shippensburg asked the Ministerium 
for a preacher and suggested either Rev. F. V. Melsheimer or 
Licentiate A. U. Lutge as acceptable, “with a yearly salary of 
£80 (eighty pounds, or less than $400) from four congregations.” 

In the same year a remarkable request was brought by two 
delegates from East Pennsborough, Cumberland County, to the 
effect that Mr. F. W. Jacsinsky, a school teacher, should be or- 
dained, with a view to his becoming their pastor. Coupled with 
this request the delegates made charges orally against their 
pastor Rev. F. D. Schaeffer, “that he held prayer-meetings in 
the houses where he stayed over night, and thereby offended 
many.’ The reply of the Ministerium was unusually vigorous. 
The decision was: 

“T. That their written request in reference to Mr. Jacsinsky 
could not be granted, as he does not possess the necessary quali- 
fications required by a preacher. 2. In regard to Pastor Schaefer, 
both delegates were reproved in love and meekness, and it was 
shown that their complaints were insufficient and trifling, and 
that the Ministerium approves the manner in which Mr. Schaefer 
conducts his office.” (Doc. His. p. 226). 

In 1789 the troublesome case of Rev. J. D. Schroeter was 
brought forward again. Various complaints were made against 
him. A letter from Hanover (heretofore called MacAllister) and 


SoME Morr PRELIMINARY HISTORY 61 


three others from Strasburg (Shrewsbury) Township, the Jeru- 
salem (Fishel’s), and Jacob’s Church in York County asked for 
a preacher, “‘but protested against Pastor Schroeter for reasons 
which they did not express beforehand, but were willing to de- 
clare, if required.” A committee of investigation, composed of 
Dr. J. H. Helmuth, Rev. C. E. Schultz, and Rev. William Kurtz, 
was appointed. In their written report they declared that ‘They 
had found him guilty of: 1. Drunkenness; 2. Lying; 3. A 
shameful hypocrisy; and 4. Sordid stinginess.’”?’ The public dis- 
cipline of the offending brother was a most impressive hour. The 
most profound feelings surged in every breast. After all the 
members had knelt in prayer, led by the President pro tem Rev. 
Henry Muhlenberg, Jr., ‘he earnestly addressed Mr. Schroeter, 
and solemnly exhorted him in the presence of God that he should 
not increase his offense by denying it, but by an honest confession 
should give glory to God. <A deep sadness reigned throughout the 
assembly. Mr. Schroeter confessed that he was guilty of all the 
charges, and promised publicly to make good in the congregations 
the offense given. ‘The entire assembly was moved to tears. His 
open-hearted confession to some extent propitiated many members, 
who on the preceding day had insisted upon his entire exclusion. 
It was therefore resolved that, Mr. Schroeter having by his con- 
duct severed his connection with the Ministerium, since he rec- 
ognizes and confesses his transgression, and has promised to re- 
form, he be restored to membership, as soon as, in accordance 
with the promise, he has made public reparation for the offense 
publicly given.” (Doc. His. pp. 227-228). 

At the next convention, in 1790, in his letter of excuse, for 
non-attendance, Rev. Jacob Goering expressed his doubts con- 
cerning the accusations that had been brought against Rev. 
Schroeter “and, besides, gave Mr. Schroeter a good testimonial 
concerning the training of his children at home.’ This letter 
made such a favorable impression upon some members that, since 
also several testimonials to the effect that the suspended brother 
had reformed had been received from his congregations, he was 
restored as a member of the Ministerium; and with the desire 
that future quarrels might be avoided, it was resolved “that the 
former accusers of Mr. Schroeter should return the papers en- 
trusted to them by the Ministerium, and the congregations be 
earnestly admonished not to act uncharitably toward former ac- 
cusers, but to treat them as brethren.” (Doc. His. pp. 233,234.) 

In the year 1790 several congregations in York County also 
sent in a petition for a minister, and Rev. J. F. Ernest was asked 
to visit them ‘‘on his way to Shamokin.”” As Mr. Ernest was living 
in New Jersey and Shamokin was 60 miles north of York, it seems 
a closer visitor might have been found, although there is no in- 
dication where the locality of the petitioning congregations was. 
In the same year Licentiate Jung (J. D. Young) was proposed 


62 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


“for Carlisle and the congregations united with it.” ‘‘Holz- 
schwam and adjoining congregations’ were advised to choose 
either Rev. Daniel Schroeter or Licentiate Paul Henkel. (Doc. 
His p. 234). 

In 1791 upon request of the Shippensburg congregation the 
license of Rev. A. U. Lutge was renewed, and Rev. J. D. Young, 
pastor at Carlisle, was ordained. (Doc. His. pp. 239, 242). 

Again the ugly case of Rev. Schroeter was aired at the con- 
vention of 1791. It was claimed that his accusers had made 
unfair use of a former decision of Synod. This time the case 
was committed to Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, who also was now living 
at ‘“Hanovertown,” and again he was requested to secure certain 
papers from the opponents. (Doc. His. pp. 231, 240). 

The convention of 1792 was attended by three delegates 
from “Yorktown.” <A singular coincidence, and perhaps a cause, 
is the fact that at this meeting a new constitution, giving greater 
recognition and power to laymen, was adopted. Previous to this 
time they could only be onlookers and hearers in the open session 
of the Svnod. Consequently we find that they usually started 
for home as soon as the secret session of the Ministertum took 
place. Of course they had been asked for reports of their con- 
eregations, and especially of the conduct and popularity of their 
pastors, and had been consulted regarding other local affairs, but 
after that their work was done, their mission finished. But now 
a new departure was organically inaugurated. To show the 
march of democracy in the American Lutheran Church, it is worth 
While to quote the more liberal new rule of 1792. 

“The delegates of the congregations may attend a!l the meet- 
ings of Synod, but not all are entitled to a vote; those delegates 
only, from congregations served by ordained ministers or licensed 
candidates present, are so entitled. Delegates from congrega- 
tions served by catechists have no vote at Synod. 

“It is therefore a fixed rule, that there are in Synod no more 
voting delegates than there are ordained ministers and licensed 
candidates present; but there are just as many delegates having a 
seat and voice from every congregation, as there are ministers, 
in actual attendance at the Synodical meetings. | 

“The delegates entitled to vote are to take seats apart from 
the rest, they have a right to offer resolutions, give their opinions 
and votes in all cases that are to be decided; except in the case of 
a question of learning, orthodoxy or heterodoxy of a candidate or 
catechist, his reception into or exclusion from the Ministerium, or 
similar cases, Which the Ministerial Session alone has to decide.” 
Chap. V1; Sec..9"10,12)"( Doc, Hiss np. 263-4), 

From the standpoint of subsequent history several very im- 
portant and influential events took place in the church-work of 
our territory in 1792. Sometime during the previous year Rev. 
Jacob Goering, who had been sole pastor at York and its affiliated 


SomME Morgr PRELIMINARY HISTORY 63 


congregations since 1789, when his father-in-law, Rev. J. N. 
Kurtz had removed to Baltimore, accepted a call to Hagerstown. 
This change will explain the following action of Synod in 1792. 

“Letters from Yorktown and other congregations united with 
it were read; also from Conococheague and neighboring congre- 
gations. In the former request was made that Rev. Mr. Go6ring 
return to his former congregations; the latter petitioned that he 
remain in his present congregations. Mr. Goring himself had 
stated that he would leave it to the decision of the Ministerium.”’ 

Dr. Helmuth and Dr. Muhlenberg having been appointed a 
committee to investigate the matter, their verdict was: 

“That Rev. Mr. Goring be advised to return to his former 
congregations in Yorktown after three months, and not earlier, 
because, under the circumstances, it would not be right to leave 
Hagerstown earlier.’ (Doc. His. p. 245). 

This was done, and York waited two years and would not 
be comforted during its long vacancy until its beloved pastor 
came back. Meanwhile John George Schmucker, from Wood- 
stock, Va., paid a visit to the vicinity of Quickel’s congregation, 
one of the filials of Christ Church, York, and was asked to supply 
the vacant pulpit. This he did so acceptably, that upon request 
from that congregation, the minutes of 1792 record that it was 

“Resolved, That Mr. Schmucker be catechist in the Quickel’s 
Church, under the supervision of the preacher in Yorktown.” 
(DocaHis#yy 2475) 

But as there was at that time no minister at York, none is 
named. For the same reason the newly appointed catechist at 
Schuster’s, Sattler’s, Bleimeier’s and Frey’s churches, was placed 
under the supervision of the preacher in Hanover. (Doc. His. p. 
247). 

In 1792 there evidently was a serious trouble in the Schuster’s, 
or Friendensal’s Church. The circumstances are not explained, 
and from the action passed one can only guess them. 

“Resolved, that the members who belong to the new church 
retain their right in it, but that they attend worship in the old 
church, and shall contribute to it, the preacher also shall preach 
imtheold: church.” «WDoc. Hist p, 245). 

The first building at the place was a log-house of worship, 
standing on ground owned exclusively by the Lutherans, which 
they obtained in 1774. But the Reformed were allowed to hold 
services in it. By 1792 a new sanctuary, a frame building, called 
the White Church, was put up evidently by the Lutherans alone. 
Supposedly some members were opposed to the new project and 
remained in the so called union church. Hence there occurred 
among the Lutherans a schism which the above action tried to 
heal by an amicable compromise. (See Gibson, p. 717). 

In 1793 there was a contention between congregations for 
Mr. Schmucker, just as during the previous year there had been 


64 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


for Mr. Goering. “Quickel’s and Wolf’s congregations requested 
that he be allowed to stay with them. and receive ordination.” 
Hagerstown wanted him there. It finally was decided that 
Catechist Schmucker, who was licensed this year, should stay 
another year, but in collaboration with Rev. Goering and Rev. 
Daniel Kurtz, of Baltimore, he should serve the Hagerstown 
congregation until they again supply themselves with a preacher. 
(Doc. His. pp. 262, 266). 

Up to this time many efforts were made to get the pastors to 
hand in full parochial reports, but only with indifferent success. 
By spurts such reports were made. But the tabulations are so 
irregular and incomplete as to be practically worthless. But in 
1793 there was a gratifying advance in this line. For the first 
time the historian can really see where certain men preached and 
how their charges were constituted, and where they were located. 
As far as our region is concerned we have the following facts. 

Rev. Jacob Goering was pastor of Yorktown, Tschochaly 
(Canadochly, corruption of Conajohela), and Creutzkriek (origi- 
nally Kreiss’ Creek). 

Licentiate George Schmucker, as we have seen, served at 
Quickel’s and Wolf’s. 

Licentiate Augustus Ritz preached at Shuster’s, Bleimeier’s, 
Frey’s, Sattler’s, and Stahley’s. 

In 1794, Licentiate Ritz desired to be transferred to another 
charge. As several congregations in Penn’s Valley (Center County) 
had sent in a petition for a pastor, it was resolved “that Mr. Ritz 
might visit the congregations and, if he found the circumstances 
satisfactory, he might accept and serve them.” (Doc. His. p. 
270). 

In the same year a call came from Newberry Township, in 
York County, for a Mr. George Graber, but the Ministerium re- 
fused to license him on the ground of his ‘insufficient training.’’ 
However, he was informed that he was ‘‘not forbidden to hold 
devotional meetings,” but that he ‘‘must be diligent and make 
better progress in theology.” 

In this year Rev. George Schmucker removed to Hagerstown. 
(DoceHssa a7 on 

Mr John Rothrauff received license as a catechist and was 
assigned to the congregations at ‘‘Bermudian, Kessler’s, and 
Langsdorf’s,” under the supervision of the pastor at York. 

A call for a pastor came from Great Cove, in Bedford County; 
also one from Frederick and Washington County, in Maryland. 

At the convention of 1795, held in Philadelphia, no ordained 
minister from our district seems to have been present, except 
Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, from Hanover, who reported that he “has 
only one German school in his congregations because the tendency 
towards English is very strong.’? Again some of the rural con- 
eregations were vacant. Hence Mr. George Graber was appointed 


SomME Morr PRELIMINARY HISTORY 65 


to serve ‘‘Freyen” (Freysville) Eschanford (Chanceford, or St. 
Luke’s) and Sattler’s. Likewise Mr. John Grob was sent to 
Dover, Shuster’s, Stelze’s, ‘‘Kreischer” (Paradise) and Lower Ber- 
mudian, under the supervision of Pastor Melsheimer. We know 
that Mr. Grob also preached at Holzschwam. Both these new 
men were only catechists. (Doc. His. p. 281). 

Licentiate Rothrauff was sent to “Greencastle, Jacob’s 
church, Martin’s church, Bard’s (Beard’s) church, and Mercers- 
pure. 

Licentiate Lang was appointed over Berlin (Somerset Co.) 
Peintritsch (Pine Ridge), Barous, Millers, Queirtown, Castel- 
man’s River, Cumberland, Upper and Lower Millkriek.”? (Doc. 
Has Aol): 

In 1796 the Ministertum again met in York. The subject 
of free schools having been bruited about this time, it was feared 
that by this project the State ‘would very much injure our Ger- 
man schools, especially in regard to the religion taught in them, 
and might very likely destroy them.” Hence a strong committee 
Was appointed to memorialize the Assembly on the matter, and 
the brethren proceeded to take an inventory of the schools in the 
various charges. ‘‘Yorktown is very strong, and German and 
English are taught in the school. Mr. Schroeter’s congregations 
have four German schools, and one in which German and English 
are taught.” ‘‘McAllister (Hanover) has two English, and in the 
country there are several German schools. In Mr. Rothrauff’s 
(Greencastle), three German winter-schools. In Mr. Griaber’s, 
two regular schools. In Mr. Grob’s, two winter-schools. In 
Mr. Lang’s (Berlin, Somerset Co.), two German and one English- 
German.” (Doc. His. pp. 283, 285). 

In this year Mr. George Graber was licensed and transferred 
from Windsor Township, York County, Pa., to ‘“‘Middletown, 
Geber’s church, Ringert’s, Schauman’s, Scherpsberg, in Maryland, 
and Loudon, in Virginia.” Mr. John Grob received full license 
and was assigned to ‘‘Dover, Paradise (Holzschwam) Lower Ber- 
mudian, Schuster’s, Fissel’s, and Stelzen’s church.” 

Mr. George Schmucker was to serve “Hagerstown, Funks- 
town, Canegoschick and Williamsburg;’ while Mr. John Herbst 
was to serve “Schierman’s Valley, Great Spring, Kennokoqul, 
Trendel’s church, Frieden’s church, in Rothland and Carlisle, Pa.’’ 

As an evidence of the rapid spread of the work of the Minis- 
terlum westward, we would mention the item that Mr. John 
Michael Steck, as a licensed candidate was to serve congregations 
as far west as ‘“‘Alleghany, in Westmoreland County.” (Doc. 
Hystipres 7): 

Rey. Jacob Goering, of York, was elected Secretary of the 
Ministerium at its convention in 1797. Requests for pastors 
came from Taneytown, Md., Frederick, and Jonestown (Johns- 
town) Pa. Asan indication that the body was becoming conscious 


66 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


of the growing importance of its constituency on the west-side of 
“the River,” the following action was taken: 

“Since a considerable number of the United Congregations 
and pastors are on the west-side of the Susquehanna, and the 
union of the Pennsylvania Ministerium must necessarily be main- 
tained, it was resolved, that the Synodical Meetings be held west 
of the Susquehanna once every three years.” (Doc. His. p. 293). 

Mr. John Rothrauff’s license was extended to include Falling 
Spring and Scherer’s, besides Greencastle, Mercersburg, and three 
other “congregations, over whom he had been placed two years 
before. 

An interesting, though not edifying, controversy was on 
hand concerning Chambersburg and Shippensburg, which had 
been vacant some time. The story is told in the masterly, hu- 
morous, and clear style of Secretary Goering. We could not im- 
prove on his description of the case. 

“Now the question was discussed as to the admission of Mr. 
Plitt and appointing him for the congregations in Chambersburg 
and Shippensburg. Chambersburg had formed an agreement with 
Licentiate Rothrauff, and he had been empowered by the officers 
of the Ministerium to serve the congregations until the Synodica 
Meeting. Then Mr. Plitt arrived—and, because Mr. Rothrauff 
evidently does not care to pay compliments on the way to heaven, 
it seems he did not possess sufficient refinement for many mem- 
bers. He was set aside and Mr. Plitt was taken in his place. This 
tyro of a preacher began with sermons against the false prophets. 
But since little is known in that region of prophets, not to say 
anything of false prophets, the matter was misunderstood, and 
gave offense. Mr. Plitt was reproached with various sentences 
and phrases, which are reported to have been heard in his 
sermons; and there may have been people who were not averse 
to reckon him, with all his zeal, among the false prophets. This 
condition of affairs caused much anxiety to the Ministerium. 
But since Mr. Plitt is generally believed to be a capable young 
man who may become useful, after much deliberation the unan- 
imous decision was finally reached by the Ministerium, that Mr. 
Phtt shall be authorized by the Ministerium to serve as catechist. 

“As long as he thus serves in Chambersburg and Shippensburg 
he shall be under the supervision of Mr. Melsheimer. He was 
advised, however, to leave these congregations, in case he should 
be called to New Holland (Where Dr. Muhlenberg shall propose 
him). Then he shall be under the supervision of Dr. Muhlenberg, 
as a catechist.” (Doc. His. pp. 294-5). 

We find that in 1798 both Chambersburg and Shippensburg 
made request “that Mr. Plitt be advanced so that he might ad- 
minister the Lord’s Supper.” The request was granted ‘and he 
was licensed, but in 1799 he was in New Holiand. 

In 1798 several Reformed members of the union church, 


SoME More PRELIMINARY HISTORY 67 


Dover, York County, sent to Synod a communication, the contents 
of which may be guessed from the resulting action, which was that 
“The Lutherans in Dover are to be advised to permit the Re- 
formed to allow any preacher who is a member of the Reformed 
Ministerium, or is recommended by a member of the same, to 
hold services in the church, with the understanding that the same 
liberty be granted by the Reformed, that any preacher who is a 
member of the Lutheran Ministerium, or is recommended by a 
member of the same, may hold services in the church.” 

It was also demanded by the Synod that this agreement 
should be signed by all the members of both congregations and 
that certain articles in their constitution should be annulled. (Doc. 
His. p. 300). This principle is embedded in a large number of 
union charters. 

In that year the distant congregation of Johnstown in ‘‘their 
sad condition” asked for the assistance that had been promised 
the year before. It was proposed that neither Rev. William Kurz 
nor Rev. F. W. Jacinsky, both of whom seemed to have had 
dividing parties there, should serve, but that the people should 
call Licentiate George Lochman, of Lebanon. But this solution 
was not realized. (Doc. His. p. 300). 

In the same year “‘the congregations at Abbottstown” asked 
to be served by Rev. John Grob. But Rev. Schroeter had agreed 
to serve them another year. However, it was reported that the 
church was closed against him. ‘Therefore Mr. Schroeter was re- 
quested to retire and allow Mr. Grob to take his place. 

In 1799 Rev. F. V. Melsheimer was commissioned to visit 
‘‘Penns and Brosche Valley,’ which were vacant, and which al- 
ready in 1798, had complained of ‘‘the lamentable depravity of 
their preacher” and requested to have their district supplied with 
one ‘‘who has the salvation of immortal souls at heart.” Their 
former pastor had been Rev. Christian Espich, who henceforth 
disappears from the Synod’s roster. (Doc. His. pp. 300, 305). 

In the same year a congregation called ‘‘Marek’s’’ desired the 
services of Rev. John Grob: affairs at Abbottstown still were un- 
settled; and the congregation at Carlisle made request that Rev. 
John Herbst should serve them more frequently and that he “‘be 
advised to give up the so-called York congregation.” (Doc. His. 
p. 806). Mr. Herbst was already living at Carlisle. The other 
church referred to must not have been in Yorktown, but some- 
where in the county. 


(CARLA eM DRE OANA 


SECOND PERIOD 
1783—1824 


SPECIAL OR DisTRict MEETINGS 


The beginning of this period is marked by the appointment 
by the Ministerium of the first cis-Susquehanna Conference and 
the general demarkation of its territory. 


In Chapter V Section 33 the Constitution of 1781 had age 
the following provisions: 


“Last of all, the ministers dwelling close together in one 
county or district, confer in regard to special meetings or con- 
ferences to be appointed, concerning which the details may be de- 
termined in due time by resolutions of Synod. Whenever a special 
matter has been referred to a conference of that kind, such con- 
- ference must be positively determined upon, and with the knowl- 
edge of all the others.” (Doc. His. p. 175). 


Accordingly on the afternoon of June 17, 1783, at the thirty- 
sixth convention, which was held in York, five such districts were 
designated. They were named according to the localities or re- 
gions in which they were to be held. The first one in the list 
appears: 

“T. Yorktown District:—Yorktown, two preachers; Mac- 
Callister, two preachers; Friederichstatt, Dover, Hagerstown, 
lancaster, SaCDocei sepa). 

But, as we shall see later, this was not the first time this 
subject was broached. For the preamble says, ‘‘It is most earnest- 
ly recommended to all the brethren, that they renew and main- 
tain Special Conferences.” 

The ministers who thus formed the first authorized and regu- 
lar Lutheran body on the west side of the Susquehanna were Rev. 
John Nicholas Kurtz and Rev. Jacob Goering, of York; Rev. 
George Baugher and Rev. Daniel Schroeter, of Hanover; Rey. 
Andreas Krug, of Frederick, Md., and Rev. Henry Muhlenberg, 
Jr., of Lancaster. 

What is puzzling in the case is the fact that the Lancaster 
pastor was assigned both to that and the Yorktown districts. Un- 
less this double relation was founded upon the ground that young 
Muhlenberg was Secretary of the Ministerium and by virtue of 
his office was expected to assist or to have somewhat of an over- 
sight of these more distant brethren, this problem must remain 
unexplained. 


68 


SPECIAL OR District MEETINGS 69 


Accordingly the first contemplated meeting of this divisional 
kind of administration was held at Sliver Run, Md., a part of 
the McCallisterville charge, to examine into complaints made 
against Rev. Daniel Shroeter. This was in 1784. (Doc. His. p. 
194). 

Between 1783 and 1792 the minutes make no mention of 
these constituted conferences, except this once. No report of 
them being available, it can only be supposed that meetings were 
held. But the only intimation that such was the case during 
the meantime is found in a resolution passed at the convention 
of 1786, in Philadelphia, 

“That no member of the Ministerium shall have anything to 
do with any candidate, or any person who represents himself as 
a preacher, if the person be not received by the Ministerium or 
recommended by the President or a District Conference.’ (Doc. 
Ais:.p. 209). 

Supposedly up to the year 1792 the meetings of these con - 
ferences, at least of that of the Yorktown District, were irregular 
and rather informal. They may have been called only as occasion 
required, as indeed is intimated in the preliminary legislation on 
the subject. The scope of their duties was but dimly defined 
and understood to be very limited. Of course now, as later, 
every act was subject to the approval of the Ministerium, to 
which parent-body strict reports had to be made. 

In the Constitution of 1792 the jurisdiction and work of these 
lesser bodies were more accurately and extensively defined. All 
of Chapter IX of that document is devoted to the subject “Of 
Special or District Meetings,’’ and the scope and purpose of such 
bodies are more definitely deliniated. 

“1. Special meetings are to be held by pastors of the Min- 
isterium, living contiguous to each other, as often as circumstances 
may require, and each congregation under the care of such minister 
may send a delegate to said meeting, having seat and vote. 

“2. A Chairman and Secretary are to be elected by said 
meeting, who are to attest the minutes and copies of the regula- 
tions. Their office ceases with the close of the meeting. 

“3. The objects of such meetings are to promote the welfare 
of the respective congregations and of the German schools within 
the District; to examine, decide and determine the business and 
occurrences in their congregations that are brought before them; 
provided however, that each party enjoys the right of appeal to 
Synod and Ministerium from the decision of the conference. 

“4. A special meeting is not permitted under any pretense 
whatever to enter upon business belonging to the Ministerium, 
even if the officers of Synod were present. But the matters 
designated in Chapter VII Sec. 9, should be prominent subjects 
of deliberation for the special meetings. 

“5. The acts of the meeting are to be transmitted by the 


70 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


chairman to the President of the Ministerium, to be laid by him 
before the next Synodical or Ministerial Meeting.” (Doc. His. 
). 259). 

: In this excerpt all the references to articles and sections of 
the constitution have been omitted as unnecessary, except that 
to Chap. VII Sec. 9. That designates the ‘“‘prominent subjects” 
which should be considered in the special meetings, and reads as 
follows: 

“All these acts of the Ministerium are to be arranged, that 
at least two hours be spent in the following exercises, in which 
all the pastors of the three orders of the Ministerium shall par- 
ticipate: a. For mutual edification. b. For imparting to each 
other their experiences in the discharge of official duties.  c. 
For engaging in the consideration of such Bible truths as the 
circumstances and the wants of the church seem to require, in 
order to be advanced in knowledge, encouraged in faithfulness and 
strengthened in faith.” (Doc. His. p. 257). 

All these transactions manifest a jealous caution that these 
conferences should not assume the initiative in any movement, 
but only exercise deputized authority, and pay special attention 
to spiritual edification. All this was a development of a germ 
that was planted in the mind of Dr. Helmuth, of Lancaster, as 
far back as 1771. The origin of the idea is related in a letter 
written by Dr. Helmuth to Dr. Knapp, at Halle, Germany, 
which is too interesting and important to abbreviate. 

“In closing, I must report something which is very pleasing 
and encouraging to me, and from which I promise myself much 
blessing: Last summer I conversed with an honorable preacher of 
a neighboring German Reformed Congregation. He talked of 
many circumstances concerning the Kingdom of Jesus. Among 
other things our conversation turned to the following: How edi- 
fying it would be for the congregations and encouraging for the 
ministers, if they assembled more frequently, than has thus far 
been customary. We determined that at the next Synodical 
meeting, he would propose the matter to the Reformed and I to 
the Lutherans. Our plan was as follows: The Conferences ought 
to be held quarterly, and only by those preachers who live nearest 
together. Further, they should differ from the General Con- 
ference (Synodical Meetings) in this, that they ought to be directed 
not so much toward the external condition in the congregations, 
as to edification and fraternal encouragement. 

“Our Synodical meeting fell upon the following 23rd of Sept., 
1771 (Gn Philadelphia). I brought up the matter. It was ap- 
proved and agreed to, as things should be in such meetings. What 
has been mentioned above was agreed upon, yet much more was 
determined, and appointed, as e. g., which of the neighboring 
preachers could best come together thus for mutual encourage- 
ment, and that those in whose congregation the meeting was held, 


SPECIAL OR District MEETINGS WAI 


should keep the minutes, and a copy should be sent to the President 
of the time, that he might read them at the General Conference.” 
(Docs His. p. 128). 

Such was the genesis and establishment of these conferences 
from one of which finally sprung our Synod. Unfortunately for 
historical interests the reports of their proceedings were not in- 
corporated in the protocol of the Ministerium; hence we have 
only a hint now and then of their meetings and acts. At the 
Synod’s convention in 17938, “A letter was read from Rev. Mr. 
Christian Streit, in which he gave a pleasing report of a Special 
Conference held in Virginia, the Protocol of which was referred 
to the Ministerial Meeting.” (Doc. His. p. 261). 

A similar report was received from a District Meeting in 
Virginia in 1795, in which it is made known that Licentiate Mau had 
been licensed to preach in Kentucky and permission is asked to 
OL aimee OCed tsp ees Oe 

But after all this legislation during a quarter of a century 
concerning these conferences they must have lived only a spas- 
modic, if not sickly life, for the subject was again taken up for 
discussion at the meeting of the Ministeritum, in Philadelphia, in 
1801. The Minutes record the following item: 

“After the Ministerium had spent most of this afternoon in 
consideration and deliberation as to whether Special or District 
Conferences were to be held, and was convinced of their necessity 
and usefulness for the advancement of God’s Kingdom and our 
Evangelical Church, it was fully decided and resolved to divide 
our United Congregations into the following districts, in which a 
special meeting s hall be held at least once a year at the places 
herein appointed.” 

As we saw above (p. 68) in 1783 there had been five such 
conferences appointed. Now seven were constituted, of which 
“Yorktown, McdAllister’s, Taneytown, Paradise and Carlisle’ 
comprised No. 4. The date and place when each one was to meet 
were designated, but in the case of ‘“‘the Fourth District’’ these 
items are not given. (Doc. His. p. 319). 

This action which strangely enough sounds as though the 
Synod had forgotten all its former deliverances on the subject 
seems to have been the outcome of charges against the pastor at 
at McAllisterville (Hanover). 

At least, at the meeting held at Reading the next year (1802) 
a report concerning that matter was handed in as the result of a 
meeting that had been held during the year somewhere in the 
Fourth District. The matter was discussed only in the Minis- 
terium. After all the pros and cons had been heard it was ‘“‘Re- 
solved, That the Ministerium regards Mr. D. Schréter unworthy 
of being a member of the Ministerium until fruits meet for re- 
pentance be shown, in which case the Ministerium will not hesitate 
to receive him again with open arms.” (Doc. His. pp. 324, 327-8). 


TZ History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Presumably a meeting of the Fourth District took place ni 
1803, (Doc. His. p. 333) but at the convention of the Synod, held 
at Easton, in 1804, it was reported that 

“In the Yorktown District there was no meeting. It was to 
be held at Emmettstown, but no one appeared except Jacob 
Goring.’ y (Doc. Hisxp 342). 

Again in the protocol of 1805 it is said 

“In the Yorktown District no conference was held.” (Doe. 
Hisepreaime 

The same report was made in 1806, and in 1807. (Doc. His. p. 
367). 

Px the Lebanon meeting of Synod in 1808, “‘the York District 
handed in its transactions in writing, referring to Mr. Herbst, 
and as no complainants were present, it was resolved to let the 
Mmatlermest. ma DOC isa p85 90). 

In 1811 the Yorktown District held no meeting. (Doc. His. 
p. 429). 

In June 1814 the following action was passed at Easton: 

That in each district, if possible a Special Conference be held 
this fall, in order to make such annotations and changes in our 
Form of Service as the assembled brethren may deem necessary, 
which changes shall be laid before the next Ministerial Meeting, 
in writing. 

Upon motion it was resolved that the resolution of Synod of 
the year 1801, with reference to the District Meetings, be inserted 
in the Magazine by the Secretary, so that each member may know 
to which district he belongs. (Doc. His. p. 471). 

In 1815 there was simply mentioned a “Report of a Special 
Conference of the Western Region,’ of which the only record 
made is the statement ‘‘This also was a source of rejoicing.” But 
this may refer to a region beyond ours. However, in 1816 ref- 
erence is made to Special Conferences held at Woodstock, Virginia, 
and in the State of Ohio, and in 1817 the request of the Ohio 
Conference to form a Ministerium of its own was refused; with 
the proviso, nevertheless, a plan might be drawn up “through 
which particular difficulties might be removed.” The result was 
that in the following year the Synod of Ohio was organized. (Doe. 
Hise 00)' | 


At a Special Conference which was held in Frederick, Md., 
in 1820, a memorial was drafted asking ‘‘permission to organize 
a new Synod on the west side of the Susquehanna,’ which was 
readily granted, but which concession was defined in 1821 as 
limited to Maryland and Virginia. (Doc. His. pp.561,572). But 
inasmuch as the Maryland and Virginia brethren had a conference 
separate from ours since 1793 (Wentz M.S. p. 39) as already 
stated, this meeting, beyond this item, does not directly concern 
us. Evidently there was fear lest all the brethren on this side 
should take advantage of this general concession. Indeed ac- 


SPECIAL OR District M&ETINGS 73 


cording to the letter of this legislation they had been given per- 
mission to do so. But there was apparent a desire to retain them 
in the old body; hence the more limited and narrower interpre- 
tation of the action of 1820 followed in 1821. But signs of the 
coming storm began to appear. 

That astute diplomacy and careful propaganda were em- 
ployed, both in the formation of the General Synod and that of 
the West Pennsylvania, appears from further evidence. On July 
15, 1828, several months before the Special Conference of the 
following October, three men met in York to hold a memorable 
private colloquium. These three men were Dr. Geroge Schmucker, 
Rev. 8. 8S. Schmucker, and Rev. John Herbst, Jr. The object of 
this informal and altogether personal colloquium was to feel the 
way and sound the brethren on the great subject that was absorb- 
ing the minds of its personnel. Fortunately we have at hand the 
minutes of that historic consultation in the chirography of S. 8. 
Schmucker himself. It is bound up in an old volume marked 
“Keclesiastical Documents, vol. III,” in the Seminary Library, at 
Gettysburg. It is written partly in German and partly in English. 

“At a meeting in York, July 15, 1823, present Schmucker, 
Senr., Herbst, Junr. & Schmucker, Junr., it was agreed that 

“1. Revd. Schmucker should publish the time for the meet- 
ing of the Penna. Special Conference, on the first Sunday in Oc- 
tober. 

“2. Resolved that Revd. 8S. & H. shall use their utmost in- 
fluence at the Special Conference, to have the following resolu- 
tions pass: 

“(1). ‘Resolved that we are convinced of the usefulness of 
the General Synod. 

“(2). “That we present this our opinion in Christian love to 
the next Synod at Carlisle. 

“(3). “That two members be appointed to attend the General 
Synod and to communicate to it this our opinion, to make known 
to this year’s General Synod this our intended purpose.’ 

“3. Resolved That the Revd. S.junr. promise and guarantee 
the presence of one or more members of the Md. & Va. Synod at 
the session of the Penna. Sp. Syn. who shall endeavor to promote 
the interests of the Gen. Synod & form plans for the purpose in 
conjunction with the brethren of Penna.” 

The abbreviation “Penna. Sp. Syn.” in this document must 
be an error. No doubt it should read ‘‘Pennsylvania Special 
Conference,” which did take place the following October, and 
which was attended by Dr. Daniel Kurz, of Baltimore, a member 
of the Maryland and Virginia Synod, and an earnest advocate for 
the General Synod.- The program of the private tripartite col- 
loquium was faithfully carried out. If it had not succeeded, it 
no doubt would have been styled, if indeed at all discovered, by 
the opponents of the General Synod, as a preposterous conclave 


) 


74 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


and pestiferous conspiracy. The contemplated Special Confer- 
ence took place at York, October 6-7, 1823. We possess a copy 
of its proceedings. 

The brethren actually assembled on Sunday, October 5, at 
the house of Dr. J. G. Schmucker, then the pastor of Christ Church. 
According to a custom of the times, the ministers marched to the 
church in procession at 10 o’clock for divine service. Rev. John 
Ruthrauff, of Greencastle, preached the sermon from Jas. 2:20-28. 
In the afternoon Rev. H. G. Stecher was the preacher. ‘Text, 
Luke 15:20. These two services had been held in the German 
language. In the evening Rev. Benjamin Keller, of Carlisle, 
preached an English sermon in the Lutheran church, from Matt. 
16:24, while at the same hour Rev. William Schulze, of McConnels- 
burg, was preaching in the Reformed church, from Heb. 11:6. 
Next morning (Monday) at 9 o’clock the formal business-con- 
ference proper was opened by Dr. Schmucker, the pastor, with 
prayer. The following ministerial brethren were present: 

Daniel Kurz, Baltimore; J. G. Schmucker, York; John Ruth- 
rauff, Greencastle; John G. Graber, York; John Herbst, Gettys- 
burg; Benjamin Keller, Carlisle; H. G. Stecher, Loganville; Wil- 
lam Schultze, McConnellsburg; Jacob Albert, East Berlin. 

Lay-delegates present who were admitted to voice and vote 
were: Martin Ebert, York; John Ehrman, Gettysburg; and Ben- 
jamin Peffer, of Carlisle. Dr. Schmucker was elected President 
and Rev. Herbst, Secretary. Mr. Augustus Lochman, nephew of 
Dr. Schmucker, and at this time only a student for the ministry, 
and even a Mr. Loeffler (‘‘Prediger der Bruedergemeine’’) as also 
Rev. Geistweit, a Reformed minister, were received, not only 
as advisory but also as voting members. Letters of request for 
excuses, Which were granted, were received from Rev. Miller, of 
Chambersburg, Rev. Jacob Kriegler, of Berlin, Somerset County, 
and Rev. Willam Jaeger, of Shellsburg. 

“A private letter from Rev. Father Stauch, of New Lisbon, 
Ohio, was read and listened to with warm sympathy. He therein 
described his physical weakness, which caused sorrow among the 
brethren, and gave a delightful report of the prosperous progress 
and the flourishing condition of the Lutheran Church in the 
state of Ohio.” 

A resolution directed Dr. Schmucker to answer Father 
Stauch’s letter. 

Secretary Herbst presented a paper containing his views 
concerning the General Synod, which was read and received for 
consideration. Rev. Kurz expressed the wish that another paper 
which had been prepared and sent at the request of several breth- 
ren in Maryland and Virginia, by Samuel 8S. Schmucker, and which 
is related to this subject, might be read. After mature consid- 
eration of this subject the following resolutions were unanimously 
adopted: 


SPECIAL OR District MEETINGS 1D 


‘“Resolved—1. That this conference is fully convinced of the 
usefulness and necessity of a General Synod. 

‘“Resolved—2. That we present this our opinion in Christian 
love to the next Synod at Carlisle, and that we will request it 
to rescind its resolution, passed at Lebanon, to annul the General 
Synod, and to support it anew. 

‘“Resolved—3. That we appoint two brethren from this con- 
ference to visit the next General Synod, which is to meet at Fred- 
erick and to communicate to the same these our resolutions. 

“Resolved—4. That President Schmucker and Secretary 
Herbst shall be appointed as this committee.” 

After this important matter had been disposed of, Secretary 
Herbst proposed the following weighty question: 

“Whether it would not be proper and useful to establish a 
new Synod on the west-side of the Susquehanna in the State of 
Pennsylvania?” 

[Ob es nicht schicklich und nuetzlich waere auf der Westseite 
der Susquehannah, 1m Staate Pennsylvanien, eine neue Synode zu 
errichten? | 

The President requested all the brethren by name to express 
their opinions on this proposition, which also each one did. After 
deliberating over the matter in every particular the following 
resolution was unanimously carried: 

“Resolved, That on account of several reasons this conference 
considers it both proper and necessary to establish a new Synod 
on the west-side of the Susquehanna, in the State of Pennsylvania, 
and will make request at the next Synod at Carlisle to grant 
permission thereto.” 

[Beschlossen, dass diese Conferenz aus mehreren Gruenden es 
als schicklich und nothwendig ansieht, eine neue Synode auf der 
Westserte der Susquehannah im Staate Pennsylvanen zu errichten, 
und ber der naechsten Synode zu Carlisle Ansuchung thun will, 
thnen EHrlaubniss dazu zu erthezlen.| 

It was decided that the minutes of this Special Conference, 
as Well as a Circular, certified by the President and Secretary, 
should be printed and sent to all Evangelical Lutheran Preachers 
west of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. 

Hereupon a full list was made of the west-Pennsylvania 
ministers and their number was found to be twenty-seven. 

It was also decided that the Pastors Schmucker, Kraber, and 
Keller should be a committee to prepare the Circular Letter. 

When the business was completed the brethren engaged in a 
most friendly and confidential interview concerning serious pas- 
toral subjects. 

The sessions of the Conference were ended with song and an 
earnest prayer by Dr. Schmucker, and a sermon in English in the 
evening by Mr. Augustus Lochman on Jer. 8:20. 


76 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The Minute of this historic meeting closes with the follow- 
ing prayer: 

“May the all-merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who has loved us so richly in his Son, accompany with his 
best blessing even these acts, whose purpose is the welfare of his 
Church, and let everything tend to the glory of his name and the 
eternal salvation of immortal souls. Amen.” 

The historical chain will not be complete without furnishing 
the Circular Letter, which bears date of Oct. 7, 1823. It is ad-- 
dressed ‘‘Highly Honored Dear Ministerial Brother’ (Hoch- 
zuehrender Theuer Herr Amtsbruder) and reads as follows: 

“We are sorry that you could not attend our Special Con- 
ference in York, because we thereat enacted business of the great- 
est importance, in which your counsel and assistance would have 
been very acceptable to us. We herewith send you our Minutes, 
and hope for and desire your cordial approval, which we are 
waiting to hear from your lips, when in the coming spring, if God 
will, we shall have the pleasure to see and speak with you at our 
Synod, in Carlisle. Our body is at present too large, so that now 
our Synod can meet in only a few towns, where we can be decently 
(ordentlich) entertained; and the most important affairs and mat- 
ters must be performed in entirely too great haste. These and 
other reasons (Gruende) have moved us to the deliberation, with 
the consent of our Synod, to establish a new Synod on the west- 
side of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, and to form ourselves 
into our own body. We also are awaiting to see you one day 
earlier in the spring, at Carlisle, in order that we may continue 
our deliberations with you. 

“God be your shield and exceeding great reward for this and 
the other world! We remain with respect and love your brethren 
in the Church of Jesus Christ. 

“J. GEORGE SCHMUCKER 
“JoHN HEeRBsr”’ 


CHAPTER VII 


THIRD PERIOD 
Synodus occiduus plantatus est. 


ORGANIZATION 
1824—1825 


The seventy-sixth convention of the Ministerium of Penn- 
sylvania, met in Carlisle, on the 12th day of June, in the year 1824. 
The day was Saturday. The next day was Trinity Sunday, and 
the entire day was taken up with preaching services. The busi- 
ness sessions were opened on Monday. There were present 29 
ordained ministers, 16 licentiates, and 35 lay-delegates. However, 
29 ministers, or almost one-third of their number, were absent. 
Considering the vast territory still covered by the Ministeritum 
even after Maryland (1820) and Ohio (1818) had separated from 
it, this absenteeism is not surprising, and this fact was an influen- 
tial item in the legislation which was enacted at the meeting. The 
first business reported by Committee No. 1, composed of Rev. 
F. W. Geisenhamer, of New York, Rev. John Ruthrauff, of Green- 
castle, Rev. William Jaeger, of Schellsburg, Mr. Jacob Eichelberger, 
of York, and Mr. John Schock, of Harrisburg, was recorded as 
follows: 

“The first Committee reported the following information con- 
cerning the papers which were placed in its hands:— 

“No. 1. Contains the printed Minutes of a Special Conference 
held in Yorktown, on October 6-7, 1823, besides a written Circular 
from the President and Secretary of said Conference to those 
Ministers on the west-side of the Susquehanna, who had not at- 
tended the same, with the request to meet in Carlisle one day 
earlier than was necessary on account of the Synod — con- 
tains also the Minutes of the Ministers on the west-side of the 
Susquehanna, who, according to that written Circular, assembled 
in Carlisle, on June 12, 1824.” 

In other words, all the brethren of the Synod only came to- 
gether in Carlisle on June 12, but on that day did no business, 
nor held any public meetings. But the cis-Susquehanna brethren, 
in pursuance of the action taken at the preliminary meeting in 
York, the previous year, met in Carlisle on the same day and held 
a business session. Inasmuch as the Synod proper did not as- 
semble as such until the next Monday, or the 14th, the special Con- 


Hite 





78 History OF West PENNSYLNAVIA SYNOD 


ference actually did meet two days before the Synod met. That 
extreme conservatism and caution, yea even reluctance, character- 
ized this serious movement is evident from the resultant action 
that was taken. Two resolutions were passed. 

“Resolved, That further consideration of the request of the 
Special Conference, held in York, for the consent of this Synod 
for the organization of a Synod on the west-side of the Susque- 
hanna, be postponed to the next meeting of Synod. 

“Resolved, That, in view of the General Synod, all considera- 
tion of the request of the afore-mentioned Special Conference be 
postponed to an indefinite time.” (Minutes p. 7). 

It is more than probable that the first resolution had as its 
motive that of the second. At this period there was a serious 
agitation in the Lutheran Church of the United States with ref- 
erence to a general body, which was to include all the district 
synods. There was warm advocacy for it and heated opposition 
against it. The principal opposition in Pennsylvania came from 
the east-side of the River and mostly from the rural congregations. 
(Jacob’s Lutherans, p. 860). 

The General Synod was organized, at Hagerstown, Md., 
Oct. 22, 1820. 

The first regular convention of that body took place in 
. Frederick, Md., Oct. 21-23, 1821. 

At that meeting the Ministerium of Pennsylvania was rep- 
resented. But no delegate from that body was present at the 
second convention of the General Synod, which took place again 
at Frederick, Oct. 19-21, 1823, nor did the Ministerium rejoin the 
General Synod until 1853. However, by a comparison of dates 
it will be discovered that the above-mentioned York Conference ° 
was held Oct. 6-7, 1823, or Just 18 days before the General Synod’s 
second convention. On its own initiative and with the spirit of 
prophetic independency that Conference appointed two men to 
attend the second meeting of the General Synod. These two men 
were Rev. J. G. Sechmucker, D. D., of York, and Rev. John Herbst, 
of Gettysburg, who were received as representatives ‘‘appointed 
by the conference of ministers west of the Susquehanna belonging 
to the Synod of Pennsylvania.” 


Several important battles in history were won because some 
far-seeing general acted at the right moment without orders. So 
it may be that the General Synod at that critical period was saved 
by the unauthorized action of the York Conference which had no 
legal right to send representatives to a general body. 

We have already seen the treatment which the negotiations 
of the aforesaid York Conference received at the hands of the 
Ministerium, at Carlisle. It was very different from that which 
the Maryland and Virginia brethren had received in 1820. Their 
request for a separate Synod had been immediately granted, while 
decision on ours Was postponed. 


ORGANIZATION 79 


This may have been because the project of the General Synod 
Was so intricately interwoven with it. It was uncertainty on this 
question that may have been the cause of delay. However, 
there was no attempt made to rebuke the York Conference for 
transcending its powers in sending delegates to the general body. 
The Ministerium was in fact greatly in favor of it, only it was too 
timid to assert its will against the opposition in the rural pastor- 
ates. But the advocates for the new district Synod were out- 
spoken and enthusiastic friends of the wider movement. Nor did 
they vield until they had seen their desire for a broad union ful- 
filled in both respects. We have no account of everything that 
took place at the Special Conference of the west-side brethren at 
Carlisle in June, 1824, but the results of it bore fruit in another 
Special Conference at Greencastle in Nov., 1824, which we will 
now describe. 


The Meeting Preliminary to the Organization of the Synod of 
West Pennsylvania. 


This took place at Greencastle, Nov. 7-9, in the year 1824. 
It was called a “Special Conference.” It had not been authorized 
by the Ministerium. It had been called by the previously held 
Conference at Carlisle the year before. It was a purely voluntary 
meeting, which no one was under legal obligation to attend. But 
its expressed object was the formation of a new Synod. The 
secretary’s introductory to his account of the meeting at Green- 
castle states: 

“Tn accordance with an understanding entered into at Car- 
lisle, and an announcement thereupon made by the Pastor at 
Greencastle, a number of ministers, residing on the west of the 
Susquehanna, Pa., convened at Greencastle on Saturday, the 6th 
of November, 1824.” 

The personnel of that historic conference was as follows: 

Rev. John G. Schmucker, York; Rev. John Ruthrauff, Green- 
castle; Rev. I. F. Moeller, Chambersburg; Rev. John Herbst, 
Gettysburg; Rev. Benjamin Keller, Carlisle; Rev. John FI’. Oster- 
loh, Bedford; Rev. Henry Stecher, York County; Rev. William 
Schulze, McConnellsburg; Rev. William Yeager, Schellsburg; 
Rey. Jacob Krigler, Berlin. 

Besides these ten pastors from the places named, there was 
also present Candidate George Heilig, from Newville. 

But besides those who were present from the state of Penn- 
sylvania, Rev. B. Kurtz and Rev. Nathan Littel, both of Hagers- 
town, and Rev. F. Ruthrauff of Williamsport, Md., also were 
visitors ‘‘and were received as members having a seat and vote.”’ 
The same courtesy was extended to Rev. M. F. Scholl, a Reformed 
minister of Greencastle. 

Letters of regret for necessitated absence were received from 


SO History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rev. John G. Graber, of York County; Rev. Jacob W. Schmidt, 
of Middleburg, Union County; Rev. J. F. Abele, of Aaronsburg, 
Center County; and Rev. G. A. Reichert, of Indiana County. 
All these were favorable toward the founding of a new Synod, 
only that Rev. Abele asked for the reasons for the movement. 
Those who were present vouched for the favorable opinion of a 
number of the absent brethren who had not written their excuses. 
The minute of the proceedings has this special item: 

“The report of our dear brother Heyer, who has resolved to 
locate at Somerset, Pa., especially afforded general joy.” 

The ministers who had thus met on that important occasion 
spent Saturday evening, and all of Sunday morning, afternoon, and 
evening in divine services, preaching in the local Lutheran, Ger- 
man Reformed, and Presbyterian churches to large congregations, 

The first business session was held on Monday morning, at 
9 o’clock. A hymn was sung ‘“‘and a fervent prayer offered by 
Pastor Schmucker,” after which the latter was chosen President 
of the meeting; Rev. John Herbst was elected Secretary. The 
brethren felt the gravity of the undertaking and hence entered 
very carefully, if not somewhat timidly, upon the discussion of 
the object that had brought them together. The entire forenoon 
Was occupied in presenting arguments pro and con as to the or- 
ganization of another Synod. The Minute pronounces this ‘‘the 
chief business of the Conference.” 

“Upon the special request of the President, each of the breth- 
ren frankly expressed his views on this subject, so important to 
the Lutheran Church. Many very weighty reasons were ad- 
vanced why the formation of a new Synod is not only desirable, 
but also in every respect also necessary; to this some objections 
were also urged and fraternally answered, in order to obtain a 
correct view of a matter so important.” (VWinute). 

After some more discussion on Monday afternoon, ‘“‘the fol- 
lowing resolutions were unanimously adopted:” 

“1. Resolved, that we all are convinced of the propriety, 
necessity, and advantage of forming a new Synod west of the 
Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, and therefore, after the next Syn- 
od, to be held at Reading, we will consider ourselves an independent 
(e€2 gene) Synod. 

“9 Resolved, that we will submit this our resolution! in 
Christian love, to the next Synod of Pennsylvania, and fraternally 
request them to acknowledge us, as soon as We are organized, as 
an independent Synod. 

“3. Resolved, that we will convene in Chambersburg on the 
first Sunday in September, 1825, and then organize ourselves into 
an independent Synod. 


“4. Resolved, that the officers address a circular letter, in 
the name of all the brethren present, to those brethren who are 
absent and who reside west of the Susquehanna, informing them 


ORGANIZATION Si 


of the grounds which influenced us to adopt the present resolu- 
tions, and earnestly praying them to accede to our resolutions to 
form a new Synod, and also to attend our next convention, or, 
in case of non-attendance, to give us their opinion on the subject 
in writing. 

‘5. Resolved, that 250 copies of the proceedings of this 
Special Conference be printed.”’ 

On Monday evening, Rev. Ruthrauff preached an English 
sermon on Psa. 149:2. 

On ‘Tuesday morning, though the weather was rainy, the 
brethren, upon invitation, met in the home of the pastor loci, Rev. 
John Ruthrauff, who resided ‘‘about a mile from Greencastle.”’ 
“The subject for consideration related to the publishing of a 
religious periodical (Religése Zeztschrift), as a continuation of the 
Evangelical Magazine, formerly published by the Pennsylvania 
Synod.” 

Rev. Herbst seems to have been the principal spokesman for 
the project but no decisive action was taken. “After the brethren 
had expressed their opinions on the subject, it was agreed that 
each should consider the matter maturely, so that at the next 
meeting each might fully present his views on the subject.” 

The business having been transacted, the brethren indulged 
in a theological discussion, whose subject is not disclosed, but 
which is declared to have been mutually instructive. The session 
was closed with prayer upon bended knee. In the evening an- 
other preaching service was held in the town. But before parting 
all the brethren set their seals to what had been done in writing 
by their own hands, thus: 

“That all these transactions were had with our approval, we 
certify by subscribing our names, as follows.” 

The Secretary closes his account of this epochal meeting with 
the following ejaculatory prayer: 

“May God, who is faithful and merciful, and who vouch- 
safed his assistance to his servants in this convention, enabling 
them to transact important business relating to the welfare of the 
church of our dear Redeemer, in future grant us his blessing in 
all our undertakings, which redound to his honor.’ 

The Circular, which Dr. George Schmucker and Rev. John 
Herbst were authorized to draw up and mail to the rest of the 
cis-Susquehanna ministers, is herewith reproduced: 


“Dear Brethren! 


The reverend Special Conference has honored us with the 
duty to add to its proceedings a circular letter addressed to you, 
in which we present for your consideration the grounds by which 
the brethren were convinced of the necessity of a new Synod and 
which induced them to form one. ‘To set forth all the important 
reasons and many promising prospects, which the Reverend 


82 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Brethren advanced for consideration on this subject, would only 
Weary your patience. We therefore speak to you as to men, 
who have themselves already considered this subject, and who 
have also in part, learned the reasons for this desirable step, from 
the mouth of your brethren, and for whom a few remarks will 
suffice. 

“Tf we organize a new Synod, we are convinced, 

“1. That our future conventions will be less expensive to us 
and our congregations, because we will not have to travel so far 
to Synod. 

“2. That we can convene at more places and thus be useful 
to more congregations Where, at present, the body, large as it 
is, cannot be accommodated. 

“3. That we can better attend to the affairs and wants of 
the congregations, having a better knowledge of their circum- 
stances and more time to consider them maturely. 

“4. That we will be able not only to transact the forthcoming 
business, but will also have time left to consider such new regu- 
lations as may tend to promote the interests of the church, as 
times and circumstances may require. 

“5. That we will then learn to know each other better, be- 
come more closely united in heart, can counsel and assist each 
other in serious pastoral matters, mutually edify each other and 
further each other more in knowledge. 

“6. That we can better watch over the walk and special 
official duties of the brethren, and advise and serve one another. 

“These reasons we lay in cordial love before you for considera- 
tion and conclude with all respect, as your humble friends and 
fellow laborers in the vineyard of the Lord.”’ 

In the year 1825 the Ministerium met in the city of Reading. 
According to its custom the members assembled on Sunday, 
May 28, and spent the day in divine services. On the following 
Tuesday forenoon some one offered the following resolution: 

“Resolved, that the proposed separation of the brethren on 
the west-side of the Susquehanna from the Synod be now con- 
sidered.” 

Several speeches on the proposal followed, but the matter 
Was again postponed for further deliberation. 

On Tuesday afternoon the subject was again called up. The 
Minute says, 

“Now the pending question of the division of the Synod 
(die in Rede stehende Trennung der Synode) was again brought into 
consideration.” Apparently without further debate two resolu- 
tions Were passed: 

“Resolved, That it pains us that our brethren on the west- 
side of the Susquehanna judge it necessary to separate from us. 
But since they have thought it well to form themselves into an 
independent Synod—so be it further 


ORGANIZATION 83 


‘Resolved, That as soon as they shall have duly organized 
themselves, we will acknowledge them as a sister-Synod.”’ 

[Jetzt wurde die in Rede stehende Trennung der Synode wieder 
in EHrwaegung gezogen, wnd 

Beschlossen, Dass es uns leid thue, dass unsere Brueder auf der 
Westseite der Susquehanna, es fuer noethig erachten, sich von wns zu 
trennen. Weil sie es aber fuer gut angesehen haben sich in eine 
ergene Synode zu bilden—so set es ferner 

Beschlossen, Dass, sobald sie sich gehoerig organisirt haben, 
werden wir ste als eine Schwester-Synode anerkoennen wollen.| 

A motion to grant a sum of money out of the treasury to the 
brethren on the west-side of the Susquehanna was postponed for 
consideration to the next Synod. (German Minutes pp. 13, 16, 
ia) | 

Thus after a long delay and much hesitation everything was 
ripe for the regular organization of the new Synod. Consequently 
We are now ready to give our account of the first meeting of the 
Synod of West Pennsylvania. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THe First MEETING OF THE WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


“Tn compliance with a resolution, unnanimously adopted by 
the Special Conference held at Greencastle, on the 8th of Novem- 
ber, 1824, the Ministers west of the Susquehanna, together with 
the Lay Delegates of their respective congregations, met at Cham- 
bersburg on the 3rd of September, 1825, to transact the Synodical 
business of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 4g 

Thus declares the first sentence of the Minutes of the new 
Synod, which however, was yet to be organized. The day was 
Saturday. The next day, the Lord’s Day, was spent in divine 
services in the various churches of the town and vicinity, morning, 
afternoon, and evening. ‘The preachers who officiated were Rey. 
John G. Schmucker, of York; Rev. John Herbst, of Gettysburg; 
Rev. P. L. Meyer, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Rev. D. Heilig, of Newville; 
Rev. J. N. Stroh, of Lewistown; Rev. J. Krigler, of Berlin; and 
Rev. Augustus H. Lochman, of Mechanicsburg. Rev. William 
Schultze had preached in the Lutheran church on the preceding 
Saturday evening. Some of the discourses were delivered in Ger- 
man, some in English. 

The Secretary reports that 

“The design of all the brethren in their discourses -was to 
enlighten the minds, to touch the hearts of their hearers, and to 
encourage them, as the disciples, and followers of the Divine Re- 
deemer, to lead a pious and godly life.” 

On Monday morning, Sept. 5, after devotional services, the 
names of the ministers present were recorded as follows: 

Rev. J. G. Schmucker, York; Rev. John Ruthrauff, Green- 
castle; Rev. J. G. Graeber, York County; Rev. J. H. Miller, 
Chambersburg; Rev. John Herbst, Gettysburg; Rev. William 
Scriba, Strasburg; Rev. J. F. Osterloh, Bedford; Rev. William 
Heim, Mifflin County; Rev. Benjamin Keller, Carlisle; Rev. H. G. 
Stecher, York County; Rev. William Schultze, McConnellsburg; 
Rev. William Jaeger, Shellsburg; Rev. Jacob Krigler, Berlin; 
Rev. Henry Kurtz, Pittsburg; Rev. Jacob Albert, East Berlin; 
Rev. P. L. Meyer, Cincinnati, O.; Rev. J. F. Abele, Aaronsburg; 
Rev. J. N. Stroh, Lewistown; Rev. A. H. Lochman, Mechanics-’ 
burg; Rev. D. Heilig, Newville. 

A Rev. Ball, without address, also is listed as present. 

The following were reported absent and excused: Melsheimer, 
Rebenack, G. Heim, Heyer, Haal, Schmick, Reichert, Smith. 


84. 


First MEETING oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 85 


The lay-delegates present and the charges which they rep- 
resented were named as follows: 

Martin Ebert, York; George Haffner, Greencastle; John 
Schaeffer, York County; Ludwig Heck, Chambersburg; Valentine 
Flohr, Gettysburg; Solomon Bauer, Tuscarora; John Wunderlich, 
Carlisle; John Ruhl, York County; Henry Smith, Bedford County; 
John Trostle, Berlin; Andrew Herder, Aaronsburg; Michael 
Longsdorf, Mechanicsburg. 

Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, of Hagerstown, Md., was voted a 
member of the body. 

Rev. Rahauser, of the Reformed Synod, was received as an 
advisory member. 

The Synod thus was composed of 34 members, 22 ministers 
and 12 lay-delegates, who were present. Hight ministers were 
absent and excused. 

However, Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, of Hagerstown, was not a 
regular member—not by right, but only by courtesy, inasmuch as 
he was one of the founders, and still a member of the Maryland 
Synod, and could not belong to two synods at the same time. 

The territory represented by these pastorates comprised all 
the territory, roughly speaking, one hundred and forty miles long 
and forty miles wide, between the Susquehanna River and the 
Alleghany Mountains, covering the present counties of York, 
Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford and Somerset 
*(Berlin). On the south this vast ecclesiastical region was bounded 
by the Maryland line. On the east it was limited by the great 
river. On the north and west it had no boundaries. In other 
words the original area of the Synod of West Pennsylvania in 
two directions had no confines and was broader than that of 
several states of the union. 

Before proceeding to the election of officers it Was unanimous- 
ly resolved 

“That the old Ministertal-Ordnung of the Evangelical Luth- 
eran Church in Pennsylvania and the adjacent states, be ac- 
knowledged by us as our Constitution, nevertheless with this 
special proviso, to make such alterations from time to time, as 
may by this body be deemed necessary.”’ 

According to the report of the tellers, the following brethren 
received the majority of the votes cast and were duly declared 
elected to their respective offices, namely, Rev. J. G. Schmucker, 
President; Rev. W. Schultze, Secretary; Rev. B. Keller, Treasurer. 
The Synod was thus (the Minutes say ‘‘now’’) organized under 
the name of 

“The Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, West of the 
Susquehanna, in the State of Pennsylvania.” 


*The Berlin here mentioned then was in Somerset County, and it is 
so stated, in order to distinguish it from what is the town now called 
East Berlin in Adams. 


86 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The newly-born Synod immediately proceeded to other busi- 
ness. 

Its first act was to congratulate Rev. J. C. Rebenack on 
having secured a new station at Erie, “where he can labor for the 
good of the Church of Christ.” 

A letter of excuse was received and its request granted to 
Rey. C. IF. Heyer, of Somerset, who afterwards became the Father 
of Lutheran Foreign Missions. 

According to a long established custom in the Ministerium of 
Pennsylvania an exchange of Minutes between this Synod and 
the German Reformed Synod was inaugurated, “as a token of 
brotherly love.” 

Rev. George Heim, Union County, reported “that in conse- 
quence of the advice given him by his congregation, he could not 
for the present attach himself to this Synod.” Whereupon, 
“after mature deliberation,” 1t was resolved: 

“1. That it is the united sense of this Synod, that every 
minister should join himself to that Synod in the district of which 
he resides, unless permission be granted him to withdraw, and 
that such resolution be forwarded to brother Heim; 

“2. That this resolution be made known to our sister Synods; 
and finally 

“3. That brother Keller request brother Heim, in a friendly 
and affectionate letter, that he and his congregation once more 
take this matter into mature consideration.”’ 

A number of troubles and difficulties between pastors and 
congregations were presented for adjustment, but most of them 
were only of temporary and local interest. 

The seventh item of business was a complaint from Scherer’s 
congregation, in Franklin County, that their pastor had admin- 
istered the Lord’s Supper in conjunction with the Reformed 
minister, who evidently was his colleague in the same union church. 
After extended consideration the principle was laid down, 

“That the Clergy of our Synod be, and hereby are, advised 
to refrain from giving catechetical instruction and administering 
the Holy Sacrament in common with other denominations, until 
the Synods of such churches have come to an agreement. on this 
head.” 

The Synod was divided into three conferences: 

“That the North Mountain be the boundary of the first 
district. The clergy living between the North Mountain and the 
western boundary of the State belong to the second district—and 
those living between the Juniata and the west-side of the Susque- 
hanna constitute the third district.” 

It was agreed to hold a special conference in each of these 
districts, supposedly once a year, and that no one should absent 
himself, ‘unless prohibited by the most pressing circumstances;” 
that the time and place of meeting should be left to the option of 





First MErrTing ofr West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 87 


the brethren in each district; and that it be the special duty of 
each special conference ‘‘maturely to deliberate upon such altera- 
tions in our constitution (or Ministerial Ordnung) as may appear 
necessary unto them; and to report the result of their deliberation 
at our next Synodical meeting.” 

Rev. John Ruthrauff, Rev. John Herbst, and Rev. Benjamin 
Keller were appointed the Ministerial, and Messrs. John Hersh, 
Sr., of Gettysburg; Jacob Bell, of Greencastle; and Major F. 
Sharretts, of Carlisle, the Lay Delegates, to represent this body 
at the next meeting of the General Synod to be held in the first 
week of the following November, at Frederick, Md. Besides del- 
egates to the Maryland Synod, Rev. John Herbst and Rev. 
Benjamin Keller were appointed to represent the new Synod at 
the next meeting of the Pennsylvania Synod—‘‘thus to manifest 
to the above named Synods the respect and brotherly love which 
we entertain for them ;—and affectionately to remind the Pennsyl- 
vania Synod of the share of a part of their Treasury which we 
believe we have a right to claim.” 

Rev. Dr. J. G. Schmucker, Rev. J. G. Graber, and Rev. John 
Herbst were appointed to draw up a circular and to send it to all 
the congregations, “in which they be exhorted to promote the 
interests of Sunday Schools—Missionary Societies—Bible Socie- 
ties—and likewise the concerns of the General Synod.” 

The following resolution was likewise adopted :— 

“That we consider the establishing of a Theological Seminary 
very desirable, and we will, therefore, prepare our congregations 
NOE Meee ¢ 


It was ordered that 500 copies of the Minutes should be 
printed—300 in German, 200 in English. 


The contributions into the treasury of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, at its first meeting amounted to $235.15, of which Dr. 
Schmucker brought $103.96 and twelve other brethren the re- 
mainder in various sums. 


York, Hanover, Mifflin, and Berlin were rivals in invitations 
for the next meeting of the Synod. Upon vote it was decided 
to meet in Berlin, Somerset County, on the second Sunday in 
September, 1826. 


The business of Synod having been finished, after returning 
thanks to God, according to a custom adopted from the mother 
Synod, the President now dismissed the Lay Delegates, and on 
Tuesday afternoon, an exclusively Ministerial Session was held. 


In that meeting 

“It was resolved, that eee Meyer, of Cincinnati, be 
ordained this evening to the ministry of reconciliation; which 
ordination accordingly took place at candle light in the Lutheran 
Church, in the presence of a very numerous assembly.” 

Without any ceremony the licenses of the candidates (such 


88 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


as were licentiates already) were extended to the next meeting 
of the Synod. 

‘All business being finished in brotherly love and harmony, 
the brethren, on bended knees, thanked the Almighty for his 
merciful assistance, and thus closed their session.” 

But as though this had not been enough the secretary in 
closing his record breaks out in the following strain; ‘Praised be 
the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for his 
merciful aid He lent his poor and feeble servants, in transacting 
their business, which was designed for the best interests of his 
Church. May He in future guide us by his Spirit, that all our 
undertakings may tend to his honor, to the glory of his name, 
and to the extension of his kingdom. Amen.” 

No men ever more sensibly felt the solemnity of their new 
enterprise than did the founders of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 
The fact that the mother synod was reluctant to let them go, 
the jeopardy of the movement for a general body, as well as their 
pietistic temperament over against formalism and unorthodox 
liberalism, and also their progressive spirit, made them anxious 
for the success of the new venture. Yet they had faith in their 
cause. The reader of their annals can not help feeling the intense 
earnestness, sincerity, and deep piety of the atmosphere which 
they created about them and in which they worked. ‘This all 
appears in the long circular letter which Revs. Schmucker, Graber, 
and Herbst sent to all the congregations west of the Susquehanna. 
It is a covering diplomatic document, which amounts to an 
apologia for the founding of the Synod. 

“When we take a retrospective view of our Church for 75 
years, We find that in a soil so congenial to its growth as that of 
America her external prosperity was great beyond anticipation; 
would to God her internal and spiritual prosperity had kept pace 
with it!” 

Comparing the growth of the Lutheran Church to a mustard- 
seed: which had spread almost over the whole continent, it con- 
tinues: 

“At the time above alluded to, the Lutheran Clergy consti- 
tuted but one Synod, which was composed of only a few but 
zealous members. But now it affords us pleasure in stating that 
under the propitious smiles of the great head of the Church, six 
Synods have already been formed and the seventh is now forming; 
Some of which are composed of a considerable number of ministers; 
even the Synod which was organized at Chambersburg in Sep- 
tember last counts about 30 clerical members.”’ 

It next states that there were then about 200 Lutheran 
ministers and 1100 congregations in our country, that only an 
average of 10 young men join the ranks each year, which was not 
adequate to supply the increasing congregations, and that in 
consequence about 100 congregations were vacant. The desire and 


First Mrrtinc oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 89 


prayer of the members of this Synod is, that the borders of the 
Redeemer’s kingdom may be extended, and the number of the 
pious followers of Christ be increased. That this may be effected 
they are willing on their part to make every sacrifice and to do 
all that les in their power; and for this purpose they have like- 
wise caused this letter to be written. 


There then follows a long reference to the fact that all de- 
nominations at that time were forming missionary societies, sup- 
porting Bible societies, distributing tracts, establishing Sunday 
Schools, sending out traveling home missionaries, and ‘observing 
weekly prayer meetings—‘‘with a zeal which manifests in a 
considerable degree the true spirit of Christ, and permits us to 
indulge the cheering hope that the Church is returning to her 
first love.” 

With the ardor and affection of tearful crusaders set on fire 
these men appeal to their constituents to become more zealous in 
work and more liberal in gifts. 

“These, friends and brethren, are incontrovertible facts, 
which stare us full in the face. Such a spirit exists and manifests 
itself in the different persuasions around us—such a zeal for the 
cause of God glows in their hearts. It is with grief that your 
ministers look around them and behold the lethargy and deadness 
which prevail among us to such an extent, that few are willing 
to raise even a hand for the cause of God and the salvation of 
immortal souls.” 

Here follows a comparison of conditions in America with the 
more unfavorable government of Germany and an appeal to ap- 
preciate the greater privilege of liberty and freedom enjoyed in 
this land. To provoke American Lutherans to greater good 
works, the claim 1s made that their brethren overseas in spite of 
their economic and political handicap exert themselves more 
strenuously in the cause of Christ. But an acknowledgment is 
made that something had been done, but too little adequate to 
the need. ‘Have not many of our ‘congregations, even in this 
case, acted rather too parsimoniously?”’ 

Next there is an eloquent testimony to the Lutheran faith. 

“Why do we so highly value the doctrines which our fathers 
believed in, and so greatly appreciate that Church discipline 
which our ancestors introduced? Is it not because we consider 
those doctrines as exhibiting the faith once delivered to the saints, 
and because we believe that discipline to be consonant with the 
simplicity of the gospel? Is it not because we believe those doc- 
trines best calculated to further the salvation of immortal souls 
and best adapted to establish the triumphs of redeeming grace; 
and because we think that Church government runs par allel with 
the government of our free and independent country?” 

While composing this circular letter the news that the General 
Synod had resolved to establish a theological seminary reached 


90 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the writers. As this project also lay near their hearts, we can 
easily understand how this intelligence added enthusiasm to their 
prophetic call to duty. Hence their clarion shout to arms near 
the end of this most interesting document: 

“We entreat you then, beloved friends and brethren. We 
entreat you, by the mercies of God and the dying love of Jesus, 
not to deny us your aid in so Christian and benevolent an under- 
taking. The time in which we live is indeed remarkable, and if 
we wish our Church not to be hid but to shine forth in future, 
as a city upon a hill, we must imitate the primitive Christians in 
their piety and zeal. When we ask for your aid, we ask it not 
for ourselves, but we ask for the cause of God—for the building 
up of the walls of Zion.” 

In the following vear of 1826 the Pennsylvania Ministerium 
met at Harrisburg. Rev. John Herbst and Rev. Benjamin Keller 
represented the young West Pennsylvania Synod in that body. 
The absence of the brethren of the new synodical district was 
notable in the fact that the roster of the old Ministerium in 1825 
was 78, while in 1826 it was only 61. The new delegates presented 
50 copies of the minutes of the first meeting of their synod, where- 
upon it was 

“Resolved, That inasmuch as the Evangelical Lutheran Synod 
on the west-side of the Susquehanna has now duly organized itself, 
the same be fraternally acknowledged as a Sister-Synod.”’ 

The previous year the proposal to give a share of the old 
treasury to the contemplated new body had been broached, but 
not acted on. Now it was resolved, 

“That $250 out of our Synodical fund be consigned and for- 
warded to the Synod on the west-side of the Susquehanna river.” 

Thus finally was the Synod of West Pennsylvania founded 
and sent on its career of usefulness. As in nature, it was a case 
of fission. ‘The new did not destroy or even injure the old, but 
only carried on its life to new conquests. 


CHAPTER Ix 


FOURTH PERIOD 
Synodus occiduus operans. 


BOUNDARIES 
1825—1856 


Although the Synod of Ohio had been cut off as a separate 
body from the Ministerium in 1818, we have seen that the West 
Pennsylvania Synod at its first session exercised jurisdiction as 
far as Cincinnati. Indeed its original confines westward did not 
seem to be limited at all. On the south Mason’s and Dixon’s 
line was the general mark of separation from the Synod of Mary- 
land. But the question of limitation of territory between ours 
and that of the Synod of Ohio was not officially settled before the 
vear 1830. In response to several questions of the Synod of Ohio 
in regard to the ecclesiastical relation of the brethren living on 
the western side of the Alleghanies it was decided that “fairly the 
geographical boundaries of the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania 
should be accepted as the boundaries of the two synods.” But 
this proposition was not favorably received by the Ohio men. A 
conference held at Greensburg, Pa., offered a compromise by ad- 
vocating the formation of a new Synod between this and that 
body. But neither would the Ohio Synod sanction that proposal. 
The Minutes of the latter body gave the information to our Synod 
in 1831, “that the Synod of Ohio regards the boundaries that 
were fixed by the Synod of Pennsylvania in 1814 as the legal 
boundaries between the Ohio Synod and this body.” But the 
Minutes of the Ministerium of that year do not reveal any such 
outline. The Synod of Ohio not being yet in existence then, 
there being only a conference called the Western District, ap- 
parently including all of western Pennsylvania and regions farther 
west, the Ministerium in 1814 only defined the powers of that 
body. The answer of our body to the claim of Ohio was this: 

“Resolved, That this Synod, after mature deliberation, feels 
itself obliged to adhere to the conviction expressed last year.’’ 
Though there was no further legislation nor any controversy on 
the subject, the parishes of the two Synods, it seems, continued to 
overlap our western border. In 1838 a committee was appointed 
to take into consideration the division of our Synod. In 1839 
this committee reported that it could not for the present agree on 


Ui 


92 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


this new project; but that in case a division should take place, 
Adams, York, Cumberland, Franklin and Perry counties should 
remain our constituency and all the counties north of Tuscarora 
Mountain should form the second. 

In 1840, after considerable discussion, a new committee was 
appointed to report the following year. However, in 1841 an 
entirely new committee reported that there were not sufficient 
reasons to justify a separation at that time, and the committee 
“rejoice to add that this resolution accords with the general wish 
of the brethren resident in that district.’”’ No doubt it was hoped 
that this would stop all agitation on the subject. But in May, 
1842, the Allegheny Synod was organized, at Blairsville, in In- 
diana County. Although the proceeding was pronounced irreg- 
ular, the new body was recognized as a sister Synod and the east- 
ern line of McKean, Clearfield, Huntingdon and Bedford counties 
was accepted as the boundary between the two Synods. More- 
over, all the brethren beyond our limits westward were advised 
to unite with this first swarm from the parent hive. Although 
there never Was a question on the boundary to the southward, 
there were several disputes and negotiations concerning border 
congregations between the West Pennsylvania and Maryland Sy- 
nods. In 1844 one whole day was spent in a discussion about 
troubles at the Silver Run congregation. 

Although from the origin of our Synod the Susquehanna was 
in general regarded as the eastern boundary, later a more definite 
line was sought. In 1848, Dr. S. S. Schmucker attended the 
meeting of the Ministerium, at Easton, where he seems to have 
held a colloquy on the subject with the older members of that 
body who were of the opinion, with which Dr. Schmucker agreed, 
“that the West Branch of the Susquehanna was from the com- 
mencement regarded as the boundary between the two Synods.”’ 

The argument was clinched by the accomplished fact that 
the territory between the two branches of the river already was 
a part of one of the Ministerium’s conferences. Thus the matter 
remained settled until 1855, when the brethren to the northward 
organized the Central Synod, whose boundary line was defined as 
“commencing where the Blue Mountain crosses the Susquehanna 
river, thence in a southern direction to Fulton County, thence 
west to the Huntingdon County line, as far as the West Branch 
of the Susquehanna river, and from thence down the Susquehanna 
to the Blue Mountains.”’ President Ulrich in his report of the 
case says that if this new proposed boundary holds, ‘“‘then our 
territorial limits will henceforth be restricted to York, Adams, 
Cumberland and Franklin Counties.’ But in this catalogue he 
should have included Fulton, which the Central Synod had not 
claimed. However, since the new body had already been adopted 
by the General Synod, there was nothing to do except to acknowl- 
edge it. Accordingly, in 1856, a committee of two members was 


93 BOUNDARIES 


appointed to confer with an equal committee of the Central 
Synod, who agreed that the geographical line proposed by the 
latter should be recognized as the boundary between the two 
Synods. From that day to this our present territory of five 
counties has remained unchanged. Thus a Synod whose bounds 
at the beginning covered what now is the territory of thirty-seven 
counties finally was contracted to that of five. 


At the first meeting of Synod, in 1825, it was the unanimous 
opinion of the founders, ‘‘that every minister should join himself 
to that Synod in the district of which he resides.” But this rule 
sometimes was honored in the breach instead of its observance. 
However, it never was meant to apply to general officials or 
missionaries of the Church. 


CHAPTER X 


MISSIONARY ACTIVITY 


At the organization meeting of the Synod at Chambersburg 
in 1825 ‘‘all the brethren freely expressed their opinion, that it 
was as necessary, as beneficial, to exhort their congregations ac- 
tively to engage in everything which may tend to the further 
extension of the Redeemer’s Kingdom.’ By resolution then Rev. 
Dr. Schmucker and the Revs. Messrs. Graeber and Herbst were 
appointed a committee to prepare a circular, which was printed 
in connection with and forms a most interesting feature of the 
Minutes of that year. While the need of world-wide missionary 
interest is presented in this circular for distribution among the 
congregations of the Synod, it presents the following definite 
suggestion for the promotion of 


Home MISSIONS 


“Some of our Sister-churches have even established funds, to 
support travelling ministers, Whose duty it is to visit their scattered 
members, and with the assistance of others, to collect them into 
small congregations, and to feed them with the pure milk of the 
gospel.” 

Following out this suggestion, an important resolution was 
adopted at the second meeting of the Synod, in 1826, as follows: 
“Being convinced of the necessity of sending a Missionary into 
the remote parts of our Synod, to supply those of our brethren, 
who are destitute of the preaching of the word of God, with oc- 
casional preaching, it Was immediately agreed to, that a mission- 
~ary should be sent among them.’’ ‘The “conference of the second 
district held at Shellsburg’? also presented ‘“‘an addition to the 
constitution” to a similar effect, which outlined the duties of the 
travelling minister. The Ministerium appointed to this service 
Mr. Nicholas Sharretts, of Carlisle, who was received as a licen- 
tiate that year and “appointed as a Missionary, for the space of 
three months, that his missionary labors be confined to the counties 
of Indiana, Clearfield, Jefferson, Venango, Armstrong, Crawford, 
Erie and Huntingdon; and that as a remuneration for his services, 
he be allowed $33.33 per month, out of the Synodical treasury.” 
That his salary was fully earned, and that he found ample field 
for missionary activity, is evident from his report the following 


94 


MIssIonaRy ACTIVITY 95 


year, “from which it appeared that he missionated 15 weeks, 
during which time he travelled 129514 miles, preached 61 times, 
baptised 46 children and 9 adults, confirmed 14, communicants 29, 
married 1 couple, and collected for the Synod $42.6214.”’ 

The following year the President was authorized to appoint 
a missionary. This work seems to have been assigned to the 
licentiates of the Synod; but in 1830 the statement is made, ‘‘The 
Rey. B. Kurtz appeared in our midst, and offered himself as Agent 
for the general welfare of the Church.” With “much joy” the 
Ministerium resolved, ‘““That the delegates to the Maryland Synod, 
together with Dr. Hazelius and Prof. Schmucker constitute a 
committee, to confer with that Synod, on this important subject, 
and to obligate themselves on our part, for a definite sum towards 
his salary.’ 


The supply of missionary service, however, seems to have 
been insufficient to meet the demands of the opening opportunities 
of the Synod; for notwithstanding the public appeals and in spite 
of the earnest personal efforts of the President, the records of the 
next several years show inability to secure the appointment of 
missionaries. In 18338, Candidate Leiter was assigned to Clear- 
field County, and Mr. T. Lape of Johnstown, N. Y., was employed 
to work for the establishment of an English Lutheran congregation 
in Pittsburgh. His missionary zeal found field for service not only 
in this western city of the State of Pennsylvania, but took him as 
far as Cincinnati and Louisville, and brought from him the re- 
port of promising opportunities in both of these places for the 
organization of Lutheran congregations. 

The progress of the church’s missionary activity, 1t was 
recognized, could be much better advanced by a general organi- 
zation. Immediately following the meeting of the Synod at 
Mechanicsburg in 1835 a ‘‘Missionary Convention”’ was assembled, 
of which Rev. Mr. Heyer was made temporary chairman, and 
Rey. I. Ruthrauff secretary, and a committee of five ministers 
and two laymen was appointed to draw up a constitution. The 
broad interests contemplated in this organization are evident 
from the instructions given to the executive committee to consider 
“the expediency of forming a connection with the American Home 
Missionary Society, and if thought advisable, to open a corre- 
spondence with the corresponding Secretary of the American Home 
Missionary Society, and make the necessary arrangements to 
effect such union.” The union was effected, as President J. G. 
Schmucker announced in his annual report to the Synod the fol- 
lowing year, with the hope “that this Union will afford us great 
advantages in supporting our own missionaries,’ and with the 
recommendation that ‘our Parent Education Society also join the 
American Parent Education Society, from which we have already 
received essential aid.” 

The completed organization of the “Central Missionary 


96 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States” 
made the Rev. John Bachman, D. D., of S. Carolina Synod, 
President; the other officers were members of the West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod: Prof. M. Jacobs, Treasurer; Rev. 8. S. Schmucker, 
D. D., Corresponding Secretary; and Prof. H. L. Baugher, Re- 
cording Secretary. The membership was without reference to 
Synodical connection, however, the annual contributions to its 
funds alone constituting eligibility; nine different Synods were 
represented thus, and each of them honored by the appointment 
of one of its representatives as Vice-President. Although the plans 
of this organization were evidently the result of earnest prayer 
and careful thought, involving the organization of Synodical and 
Congregational auxiliary societies, it was without official con- 
nection with the General Synod and the records do not show any 
great accomplishments that resulted. 

One of the most active missionaries of the Synod at this 
time was the Rev. C. F. Heyer. After leaving the pastorate of 
the Carlisle Church, he in 1830 became a Sunday School mis- 
sionary of the West Pennsylvania Synod, travelling many miles 
throughout the western part of the state. He was greatly in- 
terested in the organization of the Central Missionary Society, 
and in this connection extended his missionary activities to the 
chief parts of the Mississippi Valley, “travelled thousands of miles, 
discovered fields for at least fifty missionaries, and finally settled 
in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh.” 

Still the work was slow and discouraging, and in the report 
made to the General Synod in 1843 on the State of the Church 
the statement appears, “Much apathy prevails throughout the 
Church generally on the subject.”’ The native spirit of missions 
in the church kept the subject persistently before it, however, and 
at the meeting in Pirindeiorie in 1845 a new organization was 
formed under the name of the ‘‘“Home Missionary Society of the 
General Synod.” For more than a score of years this was the 
agency through which the home mission work of the church was 
carried on, in connection also with auxiliary societies of the dis- 
trict Synods, and finally by amendment of the constitution in 
1866 with more definite representative association yen the 
General Synod. 

All this was gradually leading up to the centralizing agency 
of the General Synod, when in 1869 at its meeting in Washington, 
D. C., “that body decided to assume entire control of its Home 
Mission affairs, and adopted the plan by which it commits to a 
committee or Board, as its representative, the entire direction and 
administration of the work of Home Missions. That Board is the 
agent of the whole Church and not a part of it, and is entrusted 
and charged with the duty and responsibility of administering the 
work of Home Missions for the whole Church.” 

In the organization of this plan the West Pennsylvania Synod 


WOMONAHWIPWNE 


10. 


EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD OF W. PENNA. 
Convened at York, Pa., September 13, 1866 


J. A. Brown, D. D., President 
A. W. Lilly, Secretary 
Wm. M. Baum, Treasurer 
A. H. Lochman, D. D. 
A. G. Deininger 

J. Kaempfer 

S. Oswald 

Jee Oswald. Ds D: 

Dae dsetiauers ssn: 
Hebe baucner se Ds 
P. Scheurer 

S. S. Schmucker, D. D. 
EW: Conrad, D> D; 
M. F. Pfahler 

A. Berg 

W. F. Eyster 

S. Henry 

S. Yingling 

M. Snyder 

G. S. Beckley 

C. A. Gelwicks 

dja lit (erxayir 

S. P. Sprecher 


24. 
25. 
26. 
a7. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
Al. 
42. 
43. 
44, 
45. 


Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 





D. M. Blackwelder 
D. Stock 

o at, 1Migrelke 

K. Miller 

S. Koons 
Breidenbaugh 
F. Stoever 
Baker 

J. Deininger 
H. Menges 
Conoway 
Dutt 
Klinefelter 

J. Q. McAtee 
Wm. Keckler 
M. G. Earhart 
A. M. Whetstone 
J. M. Rice 

G. Roths 

P. Willard 

S. Dasher 

Sa Ase Ko Erancis 


O bt 0 bi bt br 


Meat 


MISSIONARY ACTIVITY Q7 


was particularly prominent. The first Board appointed by the 
General Synod at Washington, in 1869, was composed entirely 
of ministers and laymen of York, Pa., Revs. A. H. Lochman, D. 
D., W. M. Baum, D. D., A. W. Lilly, J. H. Menges, and Messrs. 
E. G. Symser and Daniel Kraber. The Secretary was Rev. Morris 
Officer, who had been appointed Superintendent of Home Missions 
by the Executive Committee of Home Missions in 1864, by in- 
structions of the General Synod. This Board was reappointed, 
with few changes, at seven successive conventions of the General 
Synod, and therefore the headquarters of this activity of the 
Church was located at York from 1869 until 1883. The work of 
Church Extension was directed by this same Board, with different 
officers, during these fourteen years. 

Upon the resignation of Rev. Morris Officer as General Sec- 
retary of the Board, Rev. J. W. Goodlin was elected his successor 
and entered upon his duties August 1, 1871. He immediately 
identified himself with the membership of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod and during the twelve years of his service as Secretary the 
Synod, through his membership, had this direct connection with 
the work of the Home Mission Board. 

When in 1881 the office of Western Secretary was created 
this Synod furnished one of its sons, to whom this service was 
entrusted, in the person of Rev. Samuel B. Barnitz, D. D. He 
was a native of York, Pa., and was licensed and ordained by the 
West Pennsylvania Synod. He continued to render effective ser- 
vice as Western Secretary for nearly twenty-one years, until the 
time of his death in 1902. 

Recognizing the valuable service of the Synod to the cause 
of Home Missions in the foundation work of these earlier years, 
and giving full and grateful credit to these men in their official 
capacities as Directors and Secretaries, the West Pennsylvania 
Synod has probably rendered most profitable service to this im- 
portant cause through the long and efficient direction of its activi- 
ties by Rev. A. Stewart Hartman, D. D. Beginning his con- 
nection with the work of Home Missions as a member of 
of the Board in 1883, he was appointed to the office of General 
Secretary in the year 1889. He continued in this position 
until 1916, when the Boards of Home Missions and Church Ex- 
tension were consolidated; from which time until the merger of 
the three general bodies into the United Lutheran Church in 1919, 
he occupied the office of Associate Secretary of the consolidated 
Boards. Since that year he has continued to serve the Church 
as Educational Secretary of Home Missions and Church [x- 
tension. The history of the Church in America can hardly show 
another record of such sustained fidelity and efficiency, extending 
over a period of almost half the century of our Synod’s life and 
covering exactly three-fourths of the work of the Home Mission 
Board since its organization in 1869. (See sketch on page 159.) 


98 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The first tabulated report of contributions by the Synod to 
the work of Home Missions is presented in the Minutes of 1832, 
where the total gifts of the churches to the ‘‘Missionary and 
Education Society’? amounted to $880.80. The blessing of God 
upon the Lutheran Church in its growth in numbers and ability, 
as well as in the enlarging opportunities and requirements in 
America, may be recognized in the latest statistical report, that 
of its Centennial year, showing total contributions for Home 
Missions and Church Extension, calculated from the United Luth- 
eran Church percentage of apportionment for these objects, 
amounting to $19,233.23. 


CuHuRCcH EXTENSION 


The first definite recognition of the specific need to be sup- 
plied by what is known as Church Extension was the action taken 
by the General Synod at its meeting at Winchester, Va., in May, 
1853. Following the recommendation of a conference of ministers 
and lavmen at Frederick, Md., a few days prior, and in response 
also to the feeling of the Home Missionary Society in Baltimore 
that such an auxiliary was needed to give strength and permanency 
to the missions of the Church, a Church Extension Society was 
formally organized by the adoption of constitution and by-laws. 

At the meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod, a few 
months later, the following resolutions adopted express the ap- 
proval and determination to co-operate: 

“Whereas, the attention of the Lutheran church, in common 
with that of other Protestant denominations, has, during the past 
year, been specially directed to the importance of increased efforts 
for the establishment and enlargement of christian churches, 
particularly in the great Mississippi Valley, as a means under God, 
not only for the propagation of the gospel, but also as an indis- 
pensable safeguard for the perpetuity of our free civil institutions: 
and whereas, a Society has been organized, under the auspices of 
the General Synod of our church, for the purpose of raising $50,000, 
‘to assist poor and destitute Lutheran congregations in obtaining 
houses of public worship,’ Therefore, 

“Resolved 1, That this Synod cordially approves ane design 
and or ganization of said Society, as conducive alike to the extension 
of our ‘church, and of the kingdom of the Redeemer in general. 

“Resolved 2, That it be considered the duty of each pastor in 
our connection, to take a collection in his congregation in behalf 
of this object, to be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Parent 
Society. | 

“Resolved 3, That it be recommended to each pastor connected 
with this Synod, to preach on the subject of the glorious Refor- 
mation of the sixteenth century, on the coming 31st of October, 
or some convenient Lord’s Day near it; and that the collection 


MIssIonaRy ACTIVITY 99 


or subscription for the Church Extension Fund be taken on that 
occasion.”’ 

The new organization, however, struggled for strength. Not- 
withstanding its recognized importance, needed financial support 
was slow in coming. The Rev. John Ulrich, President, in his 
report the following year earnestly urged its vital value for the 
future prosperity of the church and pleaded that the project 
“ought not to be abandoned.” With practical consideration he 
recommended that the Synod should obligate itself to raise a 
certain amount within a given time apportioning said amount 
among the churches ‘‘according to the strength and wealth of the 
respective charges.’”’? In consequence of this recommendation a 
special committee Was appointed, ‘‘to take into consideration the 
recommendations of the General Synod on this subject, and 
devise a definite plan of operations.”’ 

This special committee, after a preamble strongly commend- 
ing the importance of the work, presented the following resolutions, 
which were adopted by the Synod: 

“1. Resolved, That this Synod reiterate its cordial approval 
of the design and organization of the Church Extension Society, 
and commend it anew to the increased praverful attention of both 
the ministers and laymen connected with our Synod. 

“2. Resolved, That this Synod will raise the amount of $7,000 
as its quota of the fund of $50,000; and that it be the duty of 
every pastor in our bounds (who has not already made an adequate 
effort) to take up subscriptions in each of his congregations for 
this object. 

3. Resolved, That this Synod appoint a responsible layman 
within our bounds, as treasurer of the church extension fund, 
and that all monies collected within our bounds be transmitted 
to him, subject to the order of this Synod, with the understanding 
that these monies in the hands of our Treasurer, be retained, 
until so much of the whole sum of $50,000 be secured, as in the 
judgment of this Synod, will justify a confident hope of the success 
of the enterprize. 

“A, Resolved, That the treasurer of this fund invest it, if 
possible, as fast as it may be raised.” 

Mr. Philip Smyser, of York, was appointed as Treasurer; 
and in further practical effort to secure the needed funds, an ap- 
portionment committee was appointed that recommended the 
amount of $7,000 as the Synod’s quota, which it divided among 
the various charges in sums ranging from $50 to $300. 

That the work was undertaken in real earnest is shown by 
the fact that a roll call of the various charges at the next year’s 
meeting of the Synod found the effort in a large portion of the 
charges either completed or in process of successful execution. 
And that the other Synods also were successfully co-operating is 
indicated by the authorization given to the Treasurer of the 


100 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Church Extension fund of this Synod “‘to transmit all monies for 
church extension, that have been, or will be paid over to him 
from time to time, as soon as practicable, to Mr. Heyl, general 
treasurer of the society.”” (See Resolution No. 3 above.) 

The parochial reports, however, for the following years do not 
show very generous contributions in the Church Extension column 
of benevolences, and this work in the General Synod was greatly 
limited for a number of years. During the first sixteen years of 
its history the Church Extension work received just about one 
fourth of the $50,000 proposed when the society was organized. 

When the Board of Home Missions was constituted by the 
General Synod in 1869, the Church Extension Society was dis- 
solved and its “records, papers, assets and interests’? were turned 
over to that Board. During the fourteen years next following, 
our West Pennsylvania Synod had the same connection with this 
general work of the church as with that of Home Missions described 
before. 

When the Board of Home Missions was transferred to Balti- 
more, in 1883, the headquarters of the Church Extension Board 
remained in York, with a separate membership to manage its now 
erowing responsibilities, and from this point of our Synodical 
territory its influence has radiated in all directions throughout the 
field of the General Synod. By the consolidation again of these 
two Boards in 1919, and the removal of the headquarters to Chi- 
cago in 1923, the local association of our Synod with this work 
was ended. 


FoREIGN MIssions 


Appended to the printed Minutes of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod of 1835 are the ‘““Minutes of a Missionary Convention of 
Lutheran Ministers, held in Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, 
Pa., October 3, 1835.’’ Thus our Synod had a special relation to 
the earliest definite step that was taken by our General Synod 
Church toward the extension of the gospel into foreign lands. 

At its meetings in 1833 and 1835 the General Synod had 
given earnest consideration to the subject of missions, and growing 
out of these considerations the convention at Mechanicsburg was 
called. While ministers and laymen from other Synods were 
present, those from the West Pennsylvania Synod formed the 
largest part of the membership because the convention immediate- 
ly followed that meeting in the same place. At the organization 
meeting on October 3, the temporary officers were Revs. Heyer 
and F. Ruthrauff, of this Synod, and the chairman of the com- 
mittee appointed ‘‘to draw up and report a Constitution for a 
Missionary Society, on Monday, at 1 o’clock, October 5,” was 
Prof. S. S. Sechmucker, D. D., of this Synod. Of the permanent 
officers elected on the following Monday, all but one were members 


MiussIonaRy ACTIVITY 101 


of West Pennsylvania; and likewise, all but one of the members 
of the Executive Committee elected by the Directors after the 
Convention were members of this Synod. 

Throughout all its later history our Synod has maintained a 
deep interest in the cause of foreign missions, and an intimate 
connection with the work through furnishing from its membership 
missionaries for the field and officials for its administration. 

The first American Lutheran foreign missionary was the Rev. 
J. C. F. Heyer. In the spring of 1840 the Executive Committee 
of the Central Missionary Society appointed him to go to India. 
It was not until October 14, 1841, that he set sail, and then under 
the direction of the Pennsylvania Synod, (which had maintained 
a separate missionary organization), because he could not agree 
to the proposed plan of the Executive Committee ‘‘to transact its 
business through the American Board, though it was to maintain 
as an institution its distinct Lutheran character.” 

Mr. Heyer was a member of the West Pennsylvania Synod; 
pastor of the First Church at Carlisle, 1828-1830, then as Sunday 
School missionary of the West Pennsylvania Synod he traveled 
many miles through the western counties of the state, organizing 
schools. At the meeting of the Synod at Indiana, Pa., October, 
1831, he was elected President and served three successive terms. 
His name is found in the membership roll of this Synod up to the 
meeting of 1841, soon after which he set out for his mission field 
in India. As the pioneer American Lutheran missionary he be- 
longs to the whole church; and in a peculiar sense also to the 
present Alleghany Synod in whose territory much of his home 
missionary activity was expended and where the dust of his mortal 
remains lies buried at Friedens, near Somerset; but as the Alle- 
ghany Synod was not organized until September 9, 1842, it was 
from the membership of the original West Pennsylvania Synod 
that ‘Father Heyer’ entered upon his memorable foreign mis- 
slonary career. 

In the early history of the Muhlenberg Mission in Africa a 
sad incident is related in connection with the first missionary to 
go out from this Syned. At a special meeting of the Ministertum 
called for Wednesday, December 30, 1868, at York, 8S. P. Carnell, 
appointed missionary to Africa, was ordained to the gospel min- 
istry. The minutes of the Synod of September, 1870, contain 
this pathetic reference: “On the 4th of last May Rev. Simon P. 
Carnell died at the Muhlenberg Mission in Africa. * * * He 
was ordained by this Ministerium, in extra session at York, on 
the 30th of December, 1868, to the Gospel ministry and the work 
of foreign missions. In January following he sailed from New 
York in the bark Jasper, and reached his missionary post in due 
time on the coast of Africa. He labored, and preached, and suf- 
fered for his Master in that distant and lonely field nearly a year 
and a half. Away from his native home, away from sympathizing 


102 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


friends and relatives, away from all those encouraging and blessed 
influences of ministerial society which constitutes such an essential 
element of comfort in the life of a weary, worn and over-burdened 
servant of Jesus Christ; away from all such soul-cheering sur- 
roundings, he toiled nobly on at his work, in faith and hope, until 
the Master bid him lay his armor down and come up for his crown 
of rejoicing.” 

In our India Mission our Synod has figured most largely; 
space will permit little more than the mere listing of the names of 
the men that have gone out from this territory to devote their 
strength and talents to the missionary labors of that far-off land. 

Mr. A. D. Rowe was known as ‘The Children’s Missionary,”’ 
from the fact of his successful appeal to the children of the church 
for their support of his foreign work. Beginning in St. James’ 
Sunday School, Gettysburg, with an offering of $72.0C, “‘with the 
promise of more,” he presented the cause with continued success 
throughout the church, and many of the Sunday Schools of today 
still carry his picture upon their walls a perpetual reminder of his 
effective appeals. He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania 
Synod in 1873, and ordained at a special meeting August 19, 1874, 
sailing soon after with his wife and young child for his distant 
field of labor in India. For six years he labored there, until on 
account of his wife’s health and for his own reinvigoration it 
seemed best for him to return in 1880. Returning again in the 
fall of 1881, with his family, he was permitted only a brief second 
term of service. While the Synod was in session in September, 
1882, a cable message brought the sad announcement: ‘“‘Rowe, of 
India, is dead.”’ 

The distinguished foreign service of our Dr. L. B. Wolf, 
licensed and ordained by this Synod, who gave a quarter of a 
century of his active life to the field of India, and all of his later 
life to the home administration of the foreign mission work, at 
the time of this writing being Secretary-Treasurer of the Board, 
is well known. | 

Other sons of the Synod who rendered valuable service in 
the India field, with the years of their entrance upon the work, 
are: Rev. John Nichol, 1885, (see p. 468); Rev. Wm. P. Swartz, 
1885; Rev. John Aberly, 1892, (ordained in India by Dr. L. B. 
Wolf in connection with other missionaries under the authorization 
of West Pennsylvania Synod); Rev. 8. C. Burger, 1898, (p. 185); 
Rev. J. Roy Strock, 1908, (p. 186.); Rev. Henry Spangler, 1910, 
(p. 472.); Rev. George Rupley, 1915; Rev. J. Russell Fink, 1920, 
(p. 189.;) Rev. Luther H. Gotwald, 1921, (p. 190); and Mr. 
Robert 8. Kauffman, a layman from the Greencastle Church, en- 
gaged in agricultural missionary work, 1920-1925. Rev. L. W. 
Slifer, licensed in 1919, son of Rev. Wm. G. Slifer of St. Thomas, 
is the latest son of the Synod to go to the India field. 

In the African mission field: Rev. David A. Day was a son 


MISSIONARY ACTIVITY 103 


of West Pennsylvania Synod soil, born in Adams County, February 
17, 1851; Rev. J. D. Curran, from St. James’ Lutheran Church of 
the Chanceford Charge, now President of the African Conference, 
where he has been laboring since 1911; (see p. 446); and James W. 
Miller, a layman of the First Lutheran Church, Chambersburg, 
who since 1921 has been rendering useful service as builder and 
industrial instructor at the mission, (see p. 321). 


At the meeting of the General Synod in 1869, at Washington, 
D. C., in response to the request from the Secretary of the Execu- 
tive Committee of the Foreign Mission Society, the Synod re- 
solved, ‘““That we accede to the proposal of the Foreign Missionary 
Society and take charge of the Foreign Missionary work and 
interests.”” From that time until the present the responsibility 
of administering this branch of the church’s work has been placed 
in the hands of the Foreign Mission Board. Our West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod has furnished most efficient and long time service in 
the office of General Secretary of the Board. In January, 1887, 
the Rev. George Scholl, D. D., became the first to serve in this 
capacity, and continued to direct the Foreign Mission interests 
of the General Synod until November, 1901. For two years fol- 
lowing he held the office of Corresponding Secretary, and his 
usefulness and fidelity were recognized by the Board when in 
1903 he was made Secretary Emeritus. (See sketch of his life, 
Daelol): 

On June 5, 1908, the Rev. L. B. Wolf, D. D., was elected to 
the office of General Secretary, exceptionally equipped with an 
experience of twenty-five years of practical missionary service in 
India, whence he had just returned to America. In 1911 he was 
made Treasurer; and at the present time holds the official position 
of Secretary-Treasurer. (See biographical sketch on p. 172). 


Three of the churches of the Synod are supporting their own 
representatives on the foreign field: The First Lutheran Church of 
Chambersburg, Mr. James W. Miller, Liberia, Africa; Memorial 
Lutheran Church of Shippensburg, Rev. J. Roy Strock, D. D., 
India; and Zion Lutheran Church of York, Rev. J. R. Fink, India. 


In the missionary activity of the Synod much credit must be 
given to the women of the church. With devotion and persever- 
ance they have studied the needs of the field, both at home and 
abroad, and the history of their organization has a rightful place 
in the story of the Synod’s one hundred years of service. 


104 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


THE WOMEN’S MISSIONARY SOCIETY 
By Mrs. W. J. Smyers 
“The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.” 


When the West Pennsylvania Synod met in convention in 
1879, a committee recommended the organizing of a Synodical 
Women’s Missionary Society. No action was taken. 

In 1880, the Synod took formal action on the matter and 
appointed officers. These officers never met to consult, and again 
no organization was effected. During the sessions of the con- 
vention in 1881 the subject was again taken up, and again the 
efforts would bave failed, had not Mrs. Kate B. Shaffer, then 
President of the Women’s Missionary Society of the General Synod. 
urged Mrs. Charles 8. Weiser, York, who was then Vice-President 
of the General Synod Society, to take up this Synodical work. 

As a result of Mrs. Weiser’s efforts, on September 27, 1882, 
in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa., a small company 
of Christian women met and organized the Women’s Home & 
Foreign Missionary Society of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 

The Society was organized with Mrs. Chas. 8. Weiser, York, 
Pres.; Miss Lucretia Suessoratt, Chambersburg, Vice-Pres.; 
Miss Mary Lilly, York, Rec. Sec.; Mrs. C. H. Croll, Gettysburg, 
Cor. Sec.; Miss Emily Young, Hanover, Treas. Miss Mary Lilly 
is the only surviving member of the Executive Committee. 

At the first convention of this Synodical Organization, 12 
Missionary Societies were represented. The total membership of 
these societies was 710 active members, 18 honorary members and 
10 life members. ‘The contributions for the year were $650.78. 

In 1884 the first Young Ladies’ Society was reported. This 
Society had 22 active and 5 honorary members, and reported 
$20.00 paid into the Synodical Society treasury. 

In 1884, the Children’s Mission Bands were reported. There 
were 5 societies with a membership of 130 members. They re- 
ported $110.50 paid into the Synodical Society treasury. 

After forty-two years of earnest, sincere efforts, we have 89 
Women’s Societies, with a total membership of 4,413; 28 Young 
Women’s Societies with a total membership of 738; and 47 Light 
Brigades with a total membership of 2,880. A total membership 
of 8,031 Missionary workers in the Synod. We have 534 Life 
members and 128 “‘In Memoriam’ members. 

In these forty-two years, we have paid into the treasury of 
the Women’s Missionary Society of the Lutheran Church $255, 
458.65. In 1888 we gave our Thank-offering as a separate gift. 
After that the Thank-offering was given with the regular offerings 
until 1895. Since 1895 our Thank-offering has been a special fund 
but is used in the General fund. Our offering for this period 


MISSIONARY ACTIVITY 105 





Miss CARRIE MuSSELMAN, Miss Marcery D. H. Litty, Mrs. D. A. BUEHLER 
Mrs. W. J. SMySseER, Mrs. CuHAs. S. WEISER, Mrs. F. C. KARPER 
Mrs. H. D. BEcKER, Mrs. D. K. WUNDERLICH 


106 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


is $60,108.70. Our first Synodical Annuity Secretary was ap- 
pointed in 1914 and since that time 47 bonds, ranging from 
$100.00 to $2,000.00 have been sold. Eight presidents have serv- 
ed: Mrs. Chas. 8S. Weiser, York; Mrs. D. A. Buehler, Gettys- 
burg; Mrs. D. K. Wunderlich, Chambersburg; Mrs. F. C. 
Karper, Chambersburg; Miss Margery D. H. Lilly, Mechanics- 
burg; Miss Carrie Musselman, Gettysburg; Mrs. H. D. Becker, 
Hanover; Mrs. W. J. Symser, York. 

Freeport, Ul., was the first home mission station of the 
General Society, and was the first special work to which we 
contributed. We have since contributed to 30 home mission 
stations. 

In 1884, we began work in the Foreign field; first by support- 
ing native girls and later by paying into the building funds and 
by helping to pay the missionaries’ salaries. Africa was our first 
field for foreign work. 

At the convention in First Lutheran Church, Carlisle, Pa., 
in 1907, Dr. Anna Kugler presented, most vividly, the great need 
for a home for the converts in India. The $11,000.00 for which 
she asked, to build the home was pledged. By our prayers 
and our gifts, this obligation was met. 

We assumed Miss Jesse Brewer’s support in 1921. On 
February 11, 1924, Miss Brewer was called to greater service 
in Heaven. 

In 1915, the women of the Synod gave $150.00 for necessary 
furnishings in the Mangalamandarin as a tribute to Mrs. F. C. 
Karper. 

In 1919, Miss Sanford asked for $1,500.00 for an addition to 
our Home of Blessing. It was paid into the General treasury. 

In 1924, the request came from India that the West Pennsyl- 
vania Synodical Missionary Society be asked for $1,000.00 more 
to complete the enlargement of the Home of Blessing. 

By a bequest from Mrs. Lydia E. Herr, of York, Pa., it was 
possible to send the $1,000.00 at once and the addition is to be 
called the ‘‘Lydia E. Herr Annex’’. 

In 1916, we gave $4,000.00 to the E. V. Day Memorial 
School in Africa. 

In 1924, the Phoebe Hospital in Africa was enlarged and 
$3,000.00 of the Lydia E. Herr bequest was sent for the enlarge- 
ment of the laboratory and this will be named the ‘‘Herr Labora- 
tory.”’ $3,000.00 of Mrs. Herr’s bequest was also given to the 
Japan Girls’ School Fund. Some suitable memorial to Mrs. Herr 
in the Girls’ School will be named later. 

Our Synodical contribution to the Japan Girls’ School fund 
is $8,839.00. 

We are happy for the progress made, but our success in the 
past is but a challenge to do greater things for the Master. 


CHAPTER XI 
EDUCATION 


The Lutheran church has always been interested in the mat- 
ter of education, and has felt the responsibility of furnishing 
opportunities for the training of her people. From the very 
beginnings of the Protestant Reformation we have inherited the 
desire and cultivated the effort to make our laity an intelligent 
people and to provide our pulpits with an educated ministry. The 
founders of Protestant Christianity were themselves university- 
trained scholars, and themselves also teachers. Catechisation of 
the young has been an important feature of the hfe of our church; 
notwithstanding the general introduction of the public school 
system many of our congregations in America have conducted 
parochial schools, and in some branches of the Lutheran church 
such schools are continued even today. 

Before the establishment of theological seminaries the training 
of a native American ministry was dependent upon the private 
instruction that could be given by several well equipped pastors 
who sought thus to supply the need. Among these may be men- 
tioned Drs. Helmuth and Schmidt in Philadelphia, H. E. Muhlen- 
berg and Christian Endress in Lancaster, George Lochman in 
Harrisburg, and David F. Schaffer in Frederick. West of the 
Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, Rev. Jacob Goering rendered large 
service in private theological instruction while pastor of Christ 
Lutheran Church of York; and his successor, Dr. J. G. Schmucker, 
contributed also by his active interest and instruction. 


GETTYSBURG THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


The organization of the General Synod at Hagerstown, Md., 
October 22, 1820, carried with it the increasing necessity for the 
establishment of a theological seminary conveniently located and 
suitably equipped for the education of young men to supply the 
Lutheran pulpits. Indeed, the seminary and the synod were 
mutually helpful if not mutually dependent for their firm estab- 
lishment and continued growth. It was altogether logical, there- 
fore, that at the organization meeting of the General Synod a 
“committee was appointed to form a plan for a Seminary of Hdu- 
cation.” Although at the next meeting, held at Frederick, Md., 
October 21-23, 1821, it was deemed advisable “‘on account of the 


107 


108 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


pressure of the times,’’ with other reasons, to defer the establish- 
ment of the institution, the project was to be kept alive in the 
minds of the congregations and the nucleus of a well selected 
library to be started. From the seed thus planted there has 
developed an institution of theological training that is now just 
completing the one hundredth year of its active life. ‘The cele- 
bration of this important centennial will be observed in September, 
1926. Among the members of its faculty it has included some of 
the foremost scholars of the American Lutheran Church; and it 
has furnished her pulpits with more than fourteen hundred men 
who have ministered to the spiritual needs of her pgople. 

For a number of reasons the West Pennsylvania Synod feels 
a very deep and direct interest in this Seminary and has special 
pride and gratification in its century of service. Located in the 
very heart of the territory of the Synod, it holds a similar place 
in the Synod’s affectionate interest. The first meeting of the 
Board of Directors had the difficult and responsible duty of se- 
lecting the town in which the seminary could be most advanta- 
geously placed. In the historical address delivered by Dr. J. G. 
Morris at the semi-centennial celebration in Gettysburg, June 28, 
1876, the following interesting statement is made, explaining the 
choice of Gettysburg, in competition with Hagerstown and Carlisle: 

‘“‘After a long and interesting debate on the relative advan- 
tages of the places proposed, Gettysburg, upon the second ballot 
was the place selected. Thus a most important question was 
decided. It had excited much interest, but the final decision was 
unanimous. 

“One consideration in locating the Seminary was its accessi- 
bility. It was desirable to have the institution located centrally 
in regard to the whole Lutheran Church, in a place that could be 
reached most conveniently by public highways. Gettysburg at 
that time exactly answered these conditions. There were no 
railroads in the country at that time, but the best constructed 
turnpikes in the state centered in and passed through Gettysburg. 
These were the public thoroughfares from Baltimore and Philadel- 
phia to Pittsburgh.” 

The wise judgment of that selection of place, if not the divine 
guidance in the choice that was made, seems justified by the fact 
that the very arguments that prevailed then are strong today 
after a full hundred years of test. Gettysburg is still the very 
center of the large Lutheran field it serves, drawing its students 
principally from the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and 
sending them out east and west, north and south, to the limits of 
the American territory, and supplying many important posts of 
missionary usefulness on the other side of the globe. And al- 
though for a time the development of railroads in other directions 
seemed to weaken the argument of its accessibility in comparison 
with that of growing industrial and commercial centers, Gettys- 


EDUCATION 109 


burg is today one of the most easily reached towns of the state, 
attracting to its world-famed battlefield and national park very 
many thousands of visitors annually. In addition to convenient 
railroad facilities, modern travel by automobile finds state and 
national hard-surfaced and well-kept highways leading from all 
directions into this center of historic interest and Lutheran 
educational importance. 


The organization of the West Pennsylvania Synod and the 
establishment of the Gettysburg Theological Seminary were so 
nearly contemporaneous that for this reason they bear a very 
direct mutual relation. It is evident that this subject of the 
Seminary was in the minds and on the hearts of the members of 
the Synod, for at their very first meeting in September, 1825, at 
Chambersburg, the following resolution was adopted: ‘“That we 
consider the establishing of a Theological Seminary very desirable, 
and we will, therefore, prepare our congregations for it.” It was 
resolved also that a circular letter be sent to all the congregations, 
the purpose of which was to promote the interests of Sunday 
Schools, Missionary Societies, Bible Societies, and likewise the 
concerns of the General Synod. The following paragraph from 
that circular letter will indicate the feeling of importance with 
which the committee regarded the project of founding a Seminary: 
“While this letter was composing, we understood to our entire 
satisfaction, that the General Synod of our Church, has resolved 
to establish a Theological Seminary, for the education of pious 
young men, for the gospel ministry; by whom the work of the 
Lord may be carried on in our Church, when we have closed our 
eyes in death. The necessity of such an Institution has often 
been a subject of much consideration at our different Synods; and 
many pious and discerning men of our Congregations have like- 
Wise seen that present circumstances render such an Institution 
peculiarly necessary; and that from it our offspring will reap great 
advantages.—But in order to bring this useful undertaking to 
bear, we stand in need of the active support of our Congregations. 
And here we would remind you again, beloved friends, that we 
solicit your charities, not for ourselves—but for the Church—for 
you—for your posterity.” 

Although other influences also contributed effectively toward 
the definite undertaking, there can be no doubt that this early 
and active support by the West Pennsylvania Synod gave encour- 
agement to the General Synod. The establishment of the Semi- 
nary, proposed at the first meeting, had been temporarily abandoned. 
In November, 1825, two months after the endorsement by the 
West Pennsylvania Synod, the General Synod took energetic 
measures “to commence forthwith in the name of the Triune God, 
and in humble reliance on his aid, the establishment of a Theo- 
logical Seminary,” in which shall be taught, ‘in the German and 


110 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


English languages, the fundamental doctrines of the sacred 
Scriptures, as contained in the Augsburg Confession.’’ 

On the committee appointed by the General Synod to prepare 
a plan for the establishment of the Seminary the Revs. J. Herbst 
and B. Keller of the West Pennsylvania Synod served with Revs. 
B. Kurtz and S. 8. Schmucker of the Maryland Synod. Among 
the members of the original Board of Directors, the following were 
elected by the Synod at its meeting in 1826, “and classed, one of 
whom will annually vacate his seat: Dr. Schmucker, for 5 years; 
Mr. G. Smyser, for 4 years; Rev. Herbst, for 3 years; Mr. Young, 
for 2 years; Rev. Keller, for 1 year.” The first president of the 
Board of Directors was Dr. J. G. Schmucker, who was also the 
president of the West Pennsylvania Synod. The first professor, 
and the man to whom most credit must be given for keeping alive 
the project of the Seminary, was the Rev. 8. 8. Schmucker, of 
New Market, Va. Although at the time a member of the Mary- 
land and Virginia Synod, he was the son of a West Pennsylvania 
Synod parsonage, and in the home of his father, Dr. J. G. Schmuck- 
er, at York, he received the influence and early instruction that 
led him into the position of usefulness that he occupied. 





First SEMINARY BUILDING. 


From its small beginning the Seminary has grown to it 
present excellent equipment. Toward this material growth this 
Synod has always heartily contributed. Beginning with the first 
meeting after the establishment of the Seminary, with the ap- 
propriation of $150 out of the amount of $250 that had been paid 
by the East Pennsylvania Synod into our treasury, every appeal 
that has since come, with the increasing needs of the growing 
institution, has had the Synod’s sympathy and practical support. 
The report of the success of Dr. Kurtz’s European tour in the 
interest of the Seminary was received with expression of great 
eratification, and the Minutes of 1827 contain an extended account 


EDUCATION IMD 


of his reception in the various cities of Germany and their definite 
financial responses to the appeal he presented. In the early 
struggles to maintain the Seminary, the Synod came to the relief 
in 1834 with the resolution “That one hundred dollars of the funds 
of the Synodical treasury, collected for the general welfare of the 
Church, is hereby granted, at their request, to the board of di- 
rectors of our Seminary at Gettysburg; and it was further moved: 
“Whereas the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg is at present 
verymuch embarrassed with debt, which threatens to interrupt its 
progress and injure its usefulness, therefore—Resolved, That the 
ministers of this Synod be requested annually in November, or as 





New SEMINARY BUILDING. 


soon after as possible, to make collections, or take contributions 
or subscriptions in their respective congregations in aid of this 
Institution until the debt be liquidated; and that our Sister-synods 
connected with this Seminary be requested to adopt a similar 
measure.” At the recommendation of the General Synod for ‘‘a 
centenary celebration of Lutheranism in the United States,” the 
President of the West Pennsylvania Synod, Benjamin Keller, 
presented as “one of the leading objects of the centenary cele- 
bration the obtaining of funds for the support of the prominent 
benevolent institutions of our church.” Continuing his report: 
“Here I would beg leave to mention, 1. The Theological Semi- 
nary at Gettysburg. This is certainly the most important institu- 
tion in the church, being more central than any of the others.”’ 
Following his recommendation the Synod at this meeting, in 1841, 
appointed a committee with power to name an agent or agents to 
secure centenary collections, from which “the second Professorship 


T12 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


of the Seminary at Gettysburg receive $15,000, and $500 to finish 
its edifice; the joint professorship of German in the Seminary and 
College $17,000; the College $12,000; the Book Company $10,000; 
the Education Society $10,000; for Home Missions $5,000. But 
if a sufficiency of money be not collected to meet these several 
objects, then each of them is to receive its proper proportion, 
except the second Professorship in the Seminary, which must be 
filled first and independently of the other specified objects.” 

It was thus in perfect accord with all former action of the 
Synod in relation to the Gettysburg Seminary when, at its meeting 
in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa., October 12, 1922, 
the following resolution was passed: “One of the activities of 
ereatest interest and importance in connection with the develop- 
ment of our Synod’s history has been the establishment and 
progress of our Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. 
No institution could possibly have more value to the Church in 
general than the schools in which her pastors receive their special 
training for usefulness; and no Synod could have a closer relation- 
ship to the Theological Seminary than that one upon whose 
territory the institution is located. The West Pennsylvania 
Synod has special pride in the history of invaluable service that 
has been rendered by our Seminary at Gettysburg, established one 
year later than the time of our own organization. 

“Recognizing also our responsibility for the maintenance of 
this institution on the highest possible plane of efficiency, we 
recommend that, as a memorial of the Centennials of the West 
Pennsylvania Synod and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at 
Gettysburg, we endow a Professorship in the Seminary in the 
amount of fifty thousand dollars.” | 

Of the nineteen professors that have served the Seminary, 
the following have all been active in the work of the West Penn- 
sylvania Synod, some as clerical members of the Synod in connec- 
tion with their professorships, and others as pastors of charges: 
Drs. 8. 8. Schmucker, E. L. Hazelius, C. A. Hay, C. P.. Krauth, 
J. A. Brown, ©. PF. Sehaetier, E.eJ. Wolt, i.+Ce Bilbeimern min 
Kuhlman, M. Coover, J. A. Clutz and H. C. Alleman. Brief 
sketches of their pastoral services will be found in connection with 
the histories of the charges in the Synod where they labored. 


GETTYSBURG ACADEMY 


Antedating the founding of the Theological Seminary at 
Gettysburg, the Pennsylvania legislature in 1810 made an ap- 
propriation of two thousand dollars for the erection of an academy 
in Gettysburg. It was known as The Adams County Academy. 
It contained four large rooms, two of which were occupied by the 
Seminary from its beginning until the erection of its own dormi- 
tory and recitation building. Its teaching was evidently very 


EDUCATION 113 


simple and elementary for at the opening of the Theological 
Seminary, September 5, 1826, “there was no classical and scientific 
school at Gettysburg which could furnish even the most modest 
preparatory training for its students and there were few such 
schools within the territory from which they came.’ And so it 
came to pass that the directors of the Seminary at their second 
meeting, May 16, 1827, resolved to establish a preparatory school 
and appointed Prof. 8. 8. Schmucker of the Seminary and Rev. 
J. Herbst to employ a teacher and formally open the school. On 
June 25, 1827, the school was opened in the Adams County Acad- 
emy. ‘The building, a plain substantial structure of colonial type, 
is still standing in the midst of its grounds on the corner of Wash- 
ington and High Streets. 





ORIGINAL ACADEMY; ALSO FIRST HOME OF THE 
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 


The first teacher was David Jacobs, A. M., then a student at 
the Seminary. Mr. Jacobs was licensed by the West Pennsylvania 
Synod at Bedford, Pa., October 7, 1829. The pressure of his 
duties told upon his health; after his return from a southern trip 
the following year, he died, November 4, 1830, at Shepherdstown, 
Va. 

In 1829 a scientific department was added and Michael 
Jacobs, A. M., was placed in charge. He was the brother of 
David Jacobs. He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod 
in 1832 and ordained in 1834. The school was then offering a 
five year course and was known as Gettysburg Academy, and a 
little later as the Gettysburg Gymnasium. When, in 1832, the 
Gettysburg Gymnasium became Gettysburg College, Mr. Jacobs 
was elected Professor of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. For 
three different terms of three years each he served his Synod as 
Treasurer, and for another term of three years as President. 


114 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The work of the Academy was transferred in 1838 to the 
new College edifice now known as Pennsylvania Hall; again in 
1846 to Linnean Hall. In the fall of 1868 it became necessary to 
erect the large building named Thaddeus Stevens Hall. The 
present property includes another handsome building completed 
in 1916, and a large and comfortable residence known as Junior 
Dormitory. 

Of the seven Principals of the Academy who served, with a 
few intermissions when the faculty of the College had supervision, 
five have come from the West Pennsylvania Synod, as follows: 
Professors Wm. M. Reynolds, C. J. Ehrehart, Hart Gilbert, Huber 
Gray Buehler, and Charles H. Huber under whose energetic 
leadership since 1896 the above mentioned recent additions 
have been made to the material equipment of the school. 


GETTYSBURG COLLEGE 


The College is the natural outgrowth of our Theological 
Seminary at Gettysburg. The same reasons, therefore, that relate 
the West Pennsylvania Synod to the latter explain her peculiar 
interest in the former. 

Almost immediately after the Seminary began its service of 
preparing young men for the ministry the need of a better classical 
foundation became apparent. The first stone of this foundation 
building was laid just one year after the Seminary was established. 
By steady progress the preparatory school begun in 1827 grew 
into the “Gettysburg Gymnasium” in 1829, and after five years 
developed into the institution chartered on April 7, 1832, as 
“Pennsylvania College of Gettysburg.’ The recognition of its 
direct church relationship is expressed by the following paragraph 
from the President’s report at the meeting of the West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod held in the fall of the same year: ‘The establishment 
of a literary and scientific institution, which was chartered by 
the legislature of this state, under the title of Pennsylvania College, 
must not be overlooked, when viewing the important occurrences 
in our church during the past year.’ And this estimate of the 
institution’s importance to the church is justified by the fact that 
almost two-thirds of the names of the alumni of the Seminary 
are found among the names of former students of the College. 

The formal organization of Pennsylvania College took place 
on July 4, 1882. Among the twenty-one men that formed the 
first Board of Trustees seven were regularly enrolled clerical mem- 
bers of the West Pennsylvania Synod. ‘The first Faculty was 
constituted as follows: S. 8. Schmucker, D. D., Professor of 
Intellectual Philosophy and Moral Science; HE. L. Hazelius, D. D., 
Professor of the Latin Language and German Literature; Rev. 
H. L. Baugher, A. M., Professor of the Greek Language and Belles 
Letters; Rev. M. Jacobs, A. M., Professor of Mathematics, 


EDUCATION 115 


Chemistry and Natural Philosophy; Rev. J. H. Marsden, A. M., 
Professor of Mineralogy and Botany. Of these the first four were 
members of the West Pennsylvania Synod, Drs. Schmucker and 





ORIGINAL COLLEGE BUILDINGS AND CAMPUS 


Hazelius being also the Professors in the Theological Seminary; 
Prof. Baugher having been licensed by the Synod in 1828, and 
after a pastorate of one year at Boonsboro, Md., returned to 
Gettysburg; and Prof. Jacobs being licensed in October, 1832, by 
the Synod. 

The first President was Rev. C. P. Krauth, who on September 
18, 1833, was elected Professor of Intellectual and Moral Science, 
and April 15, 1884, was appointed President of the College. He 
at once transferred his membership to the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, and was actively interested in its affairs until the time of 
his death in 1867. 

The Synod has always been responsive to efforts that were 
undertaken for the financial support of the College. When in its 
early history a plan for endowment was instituted through the 
sale of scholarships, Rev. A. Babb, a member of this Synod, 
“accepted an appointment as agent, whose difficult, arduous and 
efficient work is well remembered in many sections of the Church.” 


LO History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In this connection the following paragraph in the President’s re- 
port of 1850 indicates the Synod’s attitude: ““And permit me also 
to ask the favorable attention of the members of this Synod to 
the efforts of the Trustees of Pennsylvania College, by means of 
these scholarships, to secure its endowment and extend its patron- 
age and influence. Its prosperity 1s too closely connected with 
that of our Theological Seminary and the cause of intelligence and 
piety in our church, to be a matter of indifference. The present 
is regarded as a peculiarly favorable time to make an active 
united effort to secure so important an object.’”?’ And upon the 
acceptance of the agency by Rev. Mr. Babb in April, 1851, the 
Synod took action at its next meeting: “Resolved, That the Rev. 
Mr. Babb, agent for Pennsylvania College, is hereby cordially 
recommended to the constituency of this Synod, as well as to the 
church at large, as justly entitled to their co-operation and the 
cause he advocates as highly important to the interests of minis- 
terial education in our church.” 

It is no reflection upon the Synod’s warm-hearted interest in 
the College to recall the cold business argument with which a very 
remarkable endowment proposition was presented in 1854. The 
committee appointed in relation to the proposition reported the 
following: “The proposition of the Board is, to educate gratuitous- 
ly in the College, all the beneficiaries of this Synod. In return, 
and as the condition of the above proposal, the Board desire the 
Synod to collect and pay over to the treasurer of the Board, 
$10,000. * * * Your committee regard the advantages offered 
to the church so great, that they think she should, by all means 
accept of them. For, whilst it is true that, at the present time, 
the proposition, viewed in the light of a bare business transaction, 
would not be very favorable to the church, because the interest 
of $10,000 is worth more than the price of the tuition of all her 
beneficiaries from this Synod, yet this disadvantage will be more 
than compensated for by the increased numbers which will be 
educated hereafter.” After definite action had been deferred for 
a few years, in 1857, encouraged by ‘‘a very generous offer, as a 
beginning of the enterprise,” made by ‘Brother C. A. Morris, of 
York, Pa., a worthy member of our church,” the Synod resolved, 
“That the effort about to be made to raise funds, in the form of 
scholarships, with the view to endow Pennsylvania College, has 
the full sanction of this Synod;” and “That we will welcome any 
agent whom the committee may appoint, to our respective charges, 
and that we hereby urge our people liberally to respond to his 
calle 

By the bequest of William Bittinger, Esq., the Presidency 
and Chair of Intellectual and Moral Science was endowed in 1888; 
the generosity of another layman of our Synod is recalled by the 
name of “‘Glatfelter Hall’ by which the large recitation building 
is known; and in the recent ‘‘Million Dollar Drive” for endowment 


EDUCATION Takes, 


a very creditable number of the congregations of our Synod ac- 
cepted their quotas of $10 per member in contribution to the 
successful carrying out of this plan, under the leadership of Rev. 
J. B. Baker, then pastor of St. James’ Lutheran Church of Gettys- 
burg. 

Among those who have gone out from the West Pennsylvania 
Synod as educators mention must be made of Rev. Samuel Sprech- 
er, D.D., LL.D. In 1848 he came to Chambersburg as pastor of 
the First Lutheran Church, where he remained until he accepted 
a call to Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, in 1849, to become 
the second President of that institution. The College was then 
only four years old. During a period of a quarter of a century 
Dr. Sprecher conducted the progress of the College with marked 
success, until in 1874 after his own repeated request he was re- 
lieved of the presidency, but remained as Professor of Systematic 
Theology. After ten more years of usefulness in this capacity, 
his resignation was reluctantly accepted, and his long service was 
recognized and honored by his being made Professor Emeritus 
of Systematic Divinity. 


FEMALE EDUCATION 


The first reference to the Synod’s interest in the education of 
the young women of the church we find in the Minutes of 1845, 
when the following resolution was passed: ‘‘Whereas, we believe 
that the Female Seminary at Gettysburg, under the care of Prof. 
H. Haupt, is fully worthy of our confidence and support, and that 
other things being equal, a preference should be given by us to 
those institutions in which instruction is given in the doctrines 
and principles of evangelical Christianity, therefore 

“Resolved, That we cordially recommend this Seminary to the 
favorable notice of all who wish to secure for their daughters a 
thorough education, and especially to our ministers and members.” 

But there is evidence of a growing sense of responsibility that 
was felt to provide advantages for the education of young ladies, 
and in 1848 ‘Dr. B. Kurtz asked and obtained permission to ad- 
dress the Synod, in reference to the interests of our institutions at 
Gettysburg, and the subject of Female Education, with special 
reference to the Lutheran Church in the United States. 

“The following preamble and resolutions were then adopted: 

“Whereas the Lutheran Church has no Female Seminary, 
which receives the sanction and general patronage of the church, 
and whereas such a Seminary would greatly promote the interests 
of the church, and its want has been felt and expressed through 
the Observer, therefore be it 

“Resolved, By the Synod of West Pennsylvania, that a com- 
mittee be appointed to report a minute expressing the sense of 
the Synod on this subject.” 


118 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The committee appointed for this important consideration 
was composed of Revs. B. Keller, S. 5. Schmucker, C. P. Krauth 
and M. Jacobs. After “as full a consideration as their time 
would admit,” this committee on the following day presented these 
conclusions: ; 

“T. That it is highly important that the members of the 
Lutheran church direct their attention to a more concentrated 
effort for the intellectual and religious education of our youth. 

“TT. That a Female Seminary under Lutheran influence, lo- 
cated in some central and easily accessible place, would, if properly 
conducted contribute in various ways to the interests of society 
at large and of our church in particular. 

“TTI. That such an institution would prosper best, if under- 
taken by some well qualified individual, acquainted with the views 
and disposed to consult the wishes of those who have called for 
the institution, and are disposed to patronize it: and that the 
members of this body will cheerfully lend their influence for the 
establishment of such an institution. 

“TV. That in the opinion of this Synod, the town of York 
would be a very suitable place for the establishment of this in- 
stitution.” | 

About this time there was a plan proposed to combine the 
efforts of several Synods in the establishment of a Female Sem- 
inary. A request to the President of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod for the appointment of a co-operating committee was re- 
ferred by him to the Synod at its meeting in 1849, with the state- 
ment that he had “recommended that several members should 
volunteer to act as members of that committee.’’? No definite 
results seem to have been accomplished by the effort in those 
years; but the sense of responsibility for the establishment of 
a Woman’s College by the Church is again realized at this time, 
and our own Synod is represented by two elected directors of a 
Board composed of similar representatives of eight other Synods 
of our United Lutheran Church, whose assigned problem is to 
select a site and arrange for the organization of such an institution. 
The President of this Board is Rev. J. Henry Harms, D. D., 
formerly a member of this Synod; and the Secretary is Rev. Wim. 
A. Kump, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church of Chambersburg. 

On the territory of our Synod, at Mechanicsburg, Pa., is 
located Irving Female Seminary. While it is a privately owned 
institution, it has always enjoyed the patronage of the church. 
Prof. E. E. Campbell, the President, is a Lutheran. For many 
years Rev. A. W. Lilly, D. D., while pastor of Zion Lutheran 
Church of York, was President of the Board of Directors. For 
many years also the Synod appointed each year an official visitor 
to the school, who returned his report to the Synod, and thought- 
ful consideration was given to the conduct and progress of the 
Seminary. 


EDUCATION 119 


BENEFICIARY HDUCATION 


In response to a communication from the Corresponding 
Secretary of the Missionary and Education Society of the Synod 
of Maryland and Virginia, urging the importance of forming 
similar societies in other Synods for the purpose of providing 
education for “pious but poor young men, desirous of preparing 
themselves for the Gospel ministry,” a committee of five ministers 
and five laymen was appointed in 1829 to consider a plan for the 
formation of an Education and Missionary Society. Prompt ac- 
tion was taken upon the report of the committee, which resulted 
in the adoption of a constitution for an organization to be known 
as “The Education and Missionary Society of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church of West Pennsylvania.’ It provided for an 
annual membership fee of one dollar and offered life membership 
for the payment of ten dollars. Its purpose, in addition to the 
annual preaching of a missionary sermon at the meeting of Synod, 
was the support of ““young men of our church, who shall study 
Theology at the Gettysburg Seminary.” The organization of 
auxiliary societies in the different congregations was urged, and a 
suggested form of Constitution was provided. 


The interest in the combined work of missions and education 
continued to grow and the contributions to increase. In 1831 it 
was resolved that the society should pledge its support for five 
young men and that each beneficiary should receive not more 
than $75 per annum. 


With the formation of the Parent Education Society by the 
General Synod at its meeting in York in 1835, and the formation 
of a Synodical Missionary Society in the same year, the support 
of missions and education was conducted in separate accounts, 
and in 1836 the Treasurer’s report shows two columns of receipts, 
one for the Education Society and the other for the Missionary 
Society. 

With varying degrees of success and discouragement, the 
interest of the Synod has been maintained throughout all its 
history in this foundation work of providing young men for the 
ministry. It has finally developed into the present efficient sys- 
tem, by which under the direction of an elected Committee on 
Ministerial Education composed of five clerical and four lay mem- 
bers of the Synod each young man receiving financial assistance 
is personally observed and encouraged in his progress, and the 
support of the work is provided by the apportionment system of 
benevolence. 


120 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 





JUNIOR BUILDING OF TRESSLER ORPHANS’ HOME, LOYSVILLE, PA. 


Built and presented by the West Pennsylvania Synod and 
dedicated June 8, 1922. The building is of brick construction, 
with wood work painted white, slate roof, well lighted and thor- 
oughly equipped for its intended use. The dimensions are 58 by 
36 feet. It has a fully finished basement, first, second and dormer 
floors, entrance porch, kitchen porch, enclosed sun parlor on half 
south end and half of west side, with open porch on the other 
part of the west side. 

The building is used for boys from infancy up to two years 
of age and girls from infancy up to six years of age. It has ca- 
pacity for twenty children and three teachers. 

This building will stand in the years to come as a fine, tangi- 
ble testimony to those who gave it and an incalculable blessing to 
the children who shall enjoy its kindly ministries. The total cost 
of building and furnishing was $31,606.96. 


CHAPTER XII 
LITERATURE 


Even in contemplation of the establishment of the West 
Pennsylvania Synod the importance of a printed sheet was rec- 
ognized as a medium by which church news and religious thought 
might be disseminated. At the Special Conference held at Green- 
castle preparatory to the organization of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, November, 1824, the Minutes record: ‘“The subject for 
consideration related to the publication of a religious periodical 
(Religése Zeitschrift), as a continuation of the Evangelical Magazine, 
formerly published by the Pennsylvania Synod. Mr. Herbst, 
the Secretary, laid a resolution before the convention, setting 
forth his views in regard to the usefulness, the contents and the 
conditions of such awork. After the brethren had expressed their 
opinion on the subject, it was agreed that each of the brethren 
consider this subject maturely, so that he be prepared and able 
to give his thoughts on this matter at the next meeting.” 


Seemingly their thoughts matured slowly, for it was not until 
the meeting of 1828 that the subject of a publication was again 
presented before the Synod. At that meeting ‘‘the necessity for 
a religious paper in the German language was considered, and all 
the members of the Synod present were convinced that such a 
paper would be of especially great value.” A committee com- 
posed of Revs. B. Kurtz, W. Schulze and Prof. Schmucker, and 
laymen F. Scharretts and P. Smyser was appointed to give the 
matter thorough consideration. Their report recommended the 
publication of a 32-page monthly, of “large octavo size,” with 
subscription price of $1.50 in advance. A standing committee 
was elected (Dr. Schmucker, and Revs. F. Heyer and W. Jager), 
whose duty it was to select a printer and also secure as editor a 
qualified pastor of our church, who while acting in this capacity 
should not serve a congregation. Any profits resulting from the 
publication were to be devoted to the benevolent and missionary 
operations of the church. 

The paper was launched in April, 1829, under the name of 
The Evangelical Magazine. The printer was H. C. Neinstedt, and 
the first editor was Rev. John Herbst, both of Gettysburg. The 
Minutes of 1830, however, state: “The Rev. Dr. Hazelius and 
Prof. Schmucker were appointed Editors of our Evangelical 
Magazine.” 


121 


122 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Notwithstanding the seeming urgent need for such a publica- 
tion in the German language, it had a short life of only four years, 
discontinuing in 1833. Suggestions of difficulties appear in the 
Minutes of 1831, where the report of Dr. Schmucker complains 
of the impossibility of meeting paper and printing expenses be- 
cause of tardiness of subscribers in remitting, and explains that 
his own long continued indisposition had put the burden of con- 
ducting the paper principally upon his co-editor, Rev. Dr. Hazel- 
ius; a later resolution is still more suggestive of discouragement, 
proposing ‘‘to confer with the Editors of the proposed religious 
paper of the Ohio Synod, to devise some plan of uniting their 
interests, and if practicable to carry such plan into effect.’”’ The 
Minutes of the next year give much space to the consideration 
of the advisability of discontinuing the magazine, with detailed 
statements of monies received and paid, and of unpaid printer’s 
bill and of subscriptions due and unpaid. 

A solution of the problem appeared, however, in the report 
of a special committee appointed to consider the matter: “In 
consideration of the difficulties which hein the way, * * * they 
recommend, that this publication be discontinued in its present 
form, and that its name be changed.” This recommendation was 
induced also by the proposal of the Rev. Mr. Dreyer, of York, to 
unite our publication with his own, and to publish it weekly, at 
the annual subscription price of one dollar. Every possible ad- 
vantage was offered by Mr. Dreyer: his removal to Gettysburg 
and printing of paper there; his personal assumption of all re- 
sponsibility of the periodical; his translation and publication of 
religious works for the young, in the German language. The 
recommendation of the committee, therefore, was adopted, and 
the short but useful life of The Hvangelical Magazine of the West 
Pennsylvania Synod was brought to an end with that current year. 

The new publication appeared May 6, 18338, under the title 
of “Die Evangelische Zeitung der Lutherischen, Reformirten und 
anderer Protestantischen Kirchen in den Vereignigten Staaten,” 
the first German religious weekly in our Church. We know from 
the Synod’s consideration of the proposition that this paper had 
an earlier existence, but now in its merged form this issue is 
marked ‘Vol. I, No. 1.”’ Several items of the agreement, however, 
seem not to have been observed: The printing was continued at 
York; while nominally a weekly, only thirty-six numbers were 
issued during the year; because of lack of funds it was discontinued 
from October to December, from which time it appeared only 
bi-weekly, by recommendation of both the General Synod and the 
West Pennsylvania Synod; and its struggling life of only one year 
ended with the issue of April 7, 1834. It was a union publication, 
Dr. J. G. Schmucker of York, and Rev. A. Helffenstein, Reformed 
pastor of Baltimore, counseling and co-operating with the publisher 
Rev. J. H. Dreyer, of York. 


LITERATURE 123 


The first English Lutheran periodical in America was pub- 
lished under the direction of the Synod of Maryland and Virginia. 
Its title was ‘The Evangelical Lutheran Intelligencer.’ The first 
issue appeared in March, 1826. It appears to have had the com- 
mon struggle for existence by reason of poor financial support, 
and was able to maintain itself for just five years, the last issue 
bearing the date of February, 1831. 

Only six months later, August 1, 1831, The Lutheran Observer, 
another English Lutheran periodical was born, lived through the 
struggle of its infancy and soon attained a vigor of self-support 
and growing influence that continued through a period of eighty- 
four years, When in October, 1915, it was purchased by the General 
Synod and consolidated with The Lutheran Church Work, with the 
new title of Lutheran Church Work and Observer. 

Several facts indicate the close connection of the West Penn- 
sylvania Synod with the founding of this important periodical of 
the Church. Its appearance so soon after the cessation of The 
Intelligencer suggests the activity of another influence in the 
Church that was not entirely in accord with that which was being 
exercised by that publication. A clear argument for this is pre- 
sented by Dr. F. G. Gotwald in his “Pioneer American Lutheran 
Journalism” in The Lutheran Quarterly of April, 1912. This in- 
fluence radiated principally from Gettysburg; and Dr. J. G. 
Morris in his ‘‘Life Reminiscences”’ includes among those “leading 
spirits’ who “determined to resuscitate the deceased Intelligencer, 
or rather create a new paper worthy the patronage of our people,” 
“B. Kurtz, Schmucker, Keller, Heyer and others’’ all influential 
men in the West Pennsylvania Synod. Moreover, in his very 
first word, addressed ‘““Io Our Readers,’’ the first editor, Dr. 
Morris, explains that the Prospectus was issued from Gettysburg 
and that the original intention was to make this the place of 
regular publication. This intention included also that West 
Pennsylvania men, Professor Schmucker and Dr. Hazelius, should 
conduct its editorial management, which was impossbile on ac- 
count of the precarious state of health of the former and the 
already burdensome duties of the latter as editor of the German 
Magazine. Although the publication was never issued from our 
Synod’s territory (except the Prospectus above mentioned), but 
began its life in Baltimore and was afterwards transferred to 
Philadelphia, The Lutheran Observer was edited by West Penn- 
sylvania Synod men during a little more than two-thirds of its 
long life. The First Lutheran Church of Chambersburg furnished 
the two editors whose combined service covered fifty-seven years. 
President Heyer, in his report of 1838, says: “Rev. B. Kurtz, 
agreeably to the advice of his Physician has given up the congre- 
gation in Chambersburg, and undertaken the Editorship of the 
first weekly religious periodical of the Lutheran Church in the 
United States. * * * In accordance with our constitution, 


124 History oF WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Mr. Kurtz, who now resides within the bounds of the Maryland 
Synod, applied for an honorable dismissal, and cheerfully received 
it.’ For twenty-five years, until January 1858, he continued to 
direct the paper and exercised a large influence through the 
Chureh. After an interval of eight years the editorship again was 
entrusted to the pastor of the First Lutheran Church of Chambers- 
burg, the Rev. F. W. Conrad, who removed to Philadelphia to 
which city the Observer was now also removed. He served in this 
capacity until the time of his death in 1898, a remarkable editorial 
career of thirty-two years. 

When the paper was merged with Lutheran Church Work, our 
Synod again became directly associated with it through its edi- 
torial management by another of our members, the Rev. F. G. 
Gotwald, D. D. 

In July 1849, the first number of “The Evangelical Review” 
appeared, which has continued publication to the present time, 
with a change of name in 1871 to “The Quarterly Review of the Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church.” It has been the mouth-piece of the 
Church’s theological and scholarly expression and has maintained 
the high standard of its original purpose. With its life-long home 
on West Pennsylvania Synod territory, and edited by professors 
of our College and Seminary at Gettysburg, though always in- 
dependent of Synodical ownership, its relation to our Synod may 
naturally be regarded as particularly close. 

The ability of the Synod’s membership has been drafted for 
the editorship of Sunday School literature; the Rev. H. L. Baugher, 
D. D., for a score of years was the able editor of The Augsburg 
Teacher; for a period of thirty-three years a series of Lesson Helps 
for Sunday School teachers and pupils was edited and published in 
York, beginning 1873, supplying the schools of a large proportion 
of our Synod’s churches and of other Lutheran churches far beyond 
the borders of this Synod. For all but three years of this time 
the editor and publisher was the Rev. P. Anstadt, D. D., who 
had also earlier edited the Lutherische Kirchenbote from 1851 to 
1863, and then the American Lutheran for a period of sixteen years. 

Many individual contributions of permanent value have come 
from the pens of West Pennsylvania Synod members to the book 
and periodical literature of the Church, which the limit of space 
wil not allow to be enumerated. 


CHAPTER XIII 
LICENSES AND ORDINATIONS 


A 
Aberly, J., O. 1891. 
Albert, L. E., L. 1849, O. 1851. 
Alleman, M. J., L. 1845. 
Allison, W. M., L. 1914, O. 1915. 
Altman, D.S8., L. 1845 
Eins paGheeden Gr wl LsoU Ol sod 
Anstadt, H., L. 1892, O. 1894 
Anstadt, W. W., L. 1886, O. 1887 
Arnold, C. E., L. 1909 
Asper, J. N., L. 1880, O. 1881 


B 


Baker aWeelroai OL 7 

Baker, Ralph, O. 1921 

Barbehenn, N. C., L. 1897 

Bare, W. F., L. 1895, O. 1896 

Barnett, C. W., L. 1909 

Inve maunivAy dey NA 1s CEB Oy nee ks 

BarnitZaio. -3., 1b. 1861s O 1862 

Bassler, G., L. 1842 

Bastian, Gs P.,,O..1903 

Baughers Hel wors LelS28 20: 
1832 

Baugher, H. L., O. 1863 

Baughman, G. W., L. 1885, O. 
1886 

Bauman, C., L. 1849, O. 1850 

Baum, We M., L. 1848,-0. 1850 

Becker, D. R., O. 1888 

Belfour, E., L. 1856 

Bell, A. D., L. 1910 

Bender, H. W., L. 1897, O. 1898 

Berg, A., L. 1842, O. 1844 

Berry, L. W., O. 1860 

Berwager, G. HL. ., TL: 1906, 0; 
1907 

Bixler, H. C., L. 1892, O. 1893 

Blackwelder, D. M., L. 1859 


Bosserman, A., L. 1846 

Bolenius, A. N., L. 1833 

Bousuinwd., stn c lara ial 022.0, 
1923 

Bower, Philip, L. 1924 

Bowers, J. C., L. 1895 

Bowersox, H. T., O. 1911 

Boyer, 55 LAl835 

Brame, Edward G., L. 1928, O. 
1924 

Brame, J. F., L. 1889 

Bream Gao, 1912 

Breitenbach, E., L. 1844, O. 1846 

Brenneman, W. R., L. 1919 

Brillhart, H. C., L. 1908 

Brown, J. A., L. 1842 

Buehler, H. G., L. 1887, O. 1889 

Burger, 8S. C., L. 1897, O. 1898 

Byers, J. W., L. 1883, O. 1884 


C 


Campbell, L. 1840 

Cannaday, I., L. 1901 

Capito, J. .G., L. 1844, ©. 1846 

Carnell, J. P., O. 1868 

Clare, H. E., L. 1897, O. 1898 

Clare, M. L., L. 1904, O. 1905 

Clare, R. D., L. 1902 

Coble, Oliver Dewey, L. 1923, O. 
1924 

Cook, H.8., L. 1868 

Conoway, J., L. 1861, O. 1862 

Cook, J. J., L. 1868 

Cooper, E. R., L. 1904 

Creager, Harold L., L. 1921, O. 
1922 

Cressler Je We als (LOLs 72 

Cressman, M.8., O. 1878 

CrollwAs E., [21862 


125 


126 


Cromer, ©. @., L. 1896 
Crouse, T. L., L. 1889 
Curtis, oe Ue listo 


D 


Dahleeny) AysltS (240.1373 

Dasher, 8., L. 1860, O. 1861 

Diener, J. F., L. 1870, O. 1871 

Deininger, C. J., L. 1846, O. 1848 

Deininger, A. G., O. 1830 

Diehl, C. F., L. 1901 

Diehl, J., L. 1906 

Diehl, S. A.) Le. 1874, 0. 1875 

Diehl, W. K., L. 1888 

Dise, B.8., L. 1888 

Drawbaugh, D. P., L. 1894, OQ. 
1895 

Dutt es Lals6o.On ses 


EK 


aly eiler bs laa sod. 

Earnest, J. A., L. 1859 

Eggers, L., L. 1834 

Khrenfeld, A. C., L. 1846 

Ehrenfeld, G. F., L. 1840, O. 
1841 

Ehrhart, C., L. 1852 

Ebrhart, W. H., L. 1895, O. 1896 

Ellinger, J., L. 1838, O. 1839 

BlysGuBs 51911 

Enders, G. W., Jr., L. 1895 

Erlenmeyer, G., L. 1833, O. 1835 

Erney, W. C., L. 1918, O. 1919 

Essick, A., L. 1849 

Etter, C. B., L. 1891, O. 1892 

Eveler, G. H., O. 1904 

Everett, Plas (08 OAS a 

Eyler, D. J., L. 1849 

Eyster, C. M., L. 1883, O. 1884 

Eyster, M., L. 1838, O. 1839 


F 


Falkenstein, Elwood S., L. 1923 
O. 1924 

Pastpachten AGO Le fe 

Felton, E., O. 1882 

Minch Et ssleto01 

Finfrock, A., O. 1859 


History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Binds J- Ry, lS 19S Oe O20 
Fleck, W. K., O. 1910 

Flint, T. M., O. 1846 

Focht; DAH il. 18507 Or rSo2 
Foulk, -D2Ze Lal S73) Omis a 
Foulk, Paul L., L. 1924 

Hox Joo eee) lL O02 

Hox, W.- Bs 1.1862 
Francis,ts. Ac: he Oso. 
Frey, E., L. 1838, O. 1840 
Frey, W. W., L. 1902 

(habiyAHh Asis tb shefett 

Fritze, C. A., L. 1858, O. 1859 
Fuhrman, Arthur A., L. 1924 


G 


Galland, D. F., L. 1890 

Garrett, M. V., L. 1918 

Gaver, M. D., O. 1882 

Geesey, F. S., L. 1892, O. 1893 

Geesey, M. D., L. 1908 

GeitZ, J ING ab 1350 

Gelwix, C. A., O. 1859 

Gentzler, J. W., L. 1906 

Gephart, C. F., L. 1889, O. 1890 

Gernard elias g 

Gerhart, W., L. 1847 

Gilbert, D. M., L. 1859 

Gladfelder, P., L. 1906, O. 1907 

Goettman;, J) Go bso baae: 
1862 

Goetz, L., L. 1890, O. 1891 

Gotwald, D., L. 1830, O. 1831 

Gotwald, G. D., L. 1884, O. 1885 

Gotwald, L. A., L. 1920, O. 1921 

Gotwald, L. A., L. 1859, O. 1860 

Grahan, H., L.'1856 

Gross, G. D., O. 1881 

Grossman, H. C., O. 1868 

Gruver eee lel 

Guenther, C., L. 1837, O. 1838 

FUSS chal Oral oou 


H 


Hafer, D.S., L. 1908, O. 1904 
Hafer, Glen T., L. 1923, O. 1924 
Hafer, L. B., L. 1896 

Haines, G., L. 1852 


LICENSES AND 


Hamsher, M. R., L. 1907 

Haner, W. C., L. 1846 

Hanson, H. W. A., L. 1903 

Hapeman, H. J., L. 1887 

Harkey, 8. L., O. 1850 

Harkey, 8., L. 1833 

ATMA deeb Re LOT 3 

atnon uti ue 1596, OF 1897 

Harrison, W. H., L. 1845 

Hartman, J. A., L. 1880, O. 1881 

Hartman, W. A., L. 1897 

lnkige ACI Ug Aba ike v gay (Oh FayvAae 

inbris Weald Bp abet ale 

Hayes, C. E., O. 1910 

Heathcote, C., L. 1907 

Heck, J., O. 1842 

Heffelbower, 8. G., L. 1893, O. 
1894 

Hecew = Havin 19lo nO. 916 

Heilig, D., L. 1828, O. 1836 

Heilig, T., L. 1861 

Heilig, W., L. 1839, O. 1842 

Heilman, A. M., L. 1891, O. 1892 

Heilman, J. F., O. 1902 

Heindel, W.S., L. 1871 

Hench, 8. L., O. 1912 

Henry, E., L. 1851 

Henry, L. E., O. 1905 

Henrys. le 1850,O; 1852 

Herman; 8., £,) 1901, O. 1902 

Hershey, C. H., L. 1919, O. 1920 

Hesse, C. F. V., O. 1912 

Hildebrand, Clinton’ F., Jr., L. 
1922 

Buber On18o5 

Hippe, L., L. 1856 

Hoffman, J. H., L. 1832, O. 1834 

Hollinger, A. M., L. 1916, O. 1917 

Homrighaus, A., L. 1877 

Hoppe, C. F. W., O. 1855 

Hopps, W., L. 1854 

Horick, P: J., lL. 1919, O. 1920 

Hoshour, E. E., L. 1887 

Hosper, 8., O. 1863 

Huber, C. H., L. 1894, O. 1896 

Heilman, H. M., L. 1887, O. 1888 


ORDINATIONS 


J 


Jacobs, David, L. 1829 

Jacobs, Prof. M., L. 1832, O. 1834 
JACODY an G@ae thn lio fe 

Jager, G., L. 1830, O. 1831 
Jordy, W. H., L. 1885, O. 1886 


K 


Kast ees seat Om aos A 

Keckler, W., L. 1862, O. 1863 

Keil) HD ssi 18297 O27 1830 

Keller, C. E., L. 1882, O. 1883 

Keller, J. H., L. 1901 

Keller, L., L. 1849 

Keller, Lloyd M., L. 1922 

Kelley, A. A., L. 1895, O. 1896 

Kelley, J. F., L. 1919 

ikeaructaattyn,” Wie dale IGS iberahene™ 
1872 

Ketterman, Dan., L., 1914, O. 
1915 

Kistlene ahs sleet do 

Klinefelter, F., O. 1864 

Khnger, 02 G..02 1883 

Knight, L., L. 1845, O. 1847 

Kohler, J., L. 1844, O. 1846 

Kohler, L., 1837, O. 1838 

Koller, J. C., L. 1867, O. 1868 

Koller Weel 1 S90 Omi so7 

Koons, H.8., L. 1851, O. 1854 

Koop, W., L. 1845, O. 1847 

Koser, J. A., L. 1874 

Koser, J. G., L. 1904 

Kramlick, B. E., L. 1858 

Kroute ia Deals L903 

Kuhl, C., L. 1848 

Rum peewee soe Owloos 

Kunkel, C., L. 1841, O. 1843 


L 


Easel Wee LO1 OO tort 
Lauer, H. W., O. 1834 

Lauffer, G. N., L. 1901 

Lecrone, D. W., L. 1897, O. 1898 
Leffler, J., L. 1842 

Lehman, J., L. 1841 


128 


Lehn, John Henry, L. 1922, O. 
1923 
Leisher, W. L., L. 1888, O. 1889 
Leiter, G., O. 1834 
Leonard, C., O. 1904 
Lepley, C., L. 1839, O. 1840 
Lesher, 8. M., L. 1894 
Lilly, Wo EH She 1s 77 . 
Little, J. Harold, L.. 1923, O. 1924 
Livingston, P., L. 1885, O. 1886 
livingston Peele Loe L016 
Lochman, A. H., O. 1926 
Long, A., L. 1856 
M 
Manges, E. L., L. 1910 
Manges, L. C., L. 1899 
Manifold, J. H., C. L. 1891 
Markley, R. L., O. 1915 
Markward, J. B., L. 1894 
Martin, C., L. 1836 
Martin, D. C., L. 1904, O. 1905 
Martin, Jacob, O. 1829 
Meisenhelder, R. L., L. 1898, O. 
1900 
Metzger, J. A., L. 1882, O. 1883 
Metzler, E. J.,-L. 1874,.0. 1875 
Meyer, J. H., L. 1901 
Meyer, P. L., O. 1825 
Miller, Guy E., L. 1922, O. 1923 
Miller, G. W., L. 1901 
Miller, J. K., L. 1850 
Miller, J. W., L. 1849 
Mortensen, Ludwig C., L. 1923, 
O. 1924 
Moser, Daniel, L. 1829, O. 1830 
Mowrer, B. K., O. 1921 
Mumper, J. Harold, L. 1924 
Musselman, H. A., L. 1901, O. 
1902 
McAtee, J. Q., O. 1861 
Mc@armeveeG. bie onl 2 
1913 
Mc@arney;s4). Cy 17. 21903; 40; 
1904 
McCron, J:; .,.1839; O:1840 
McDowell, S. J., L. 1891, O. 1892 
McGaughey, J..C., L. 1890, O. 
1891 








History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


McKenzie; D: ley La 1s (Ope 
1871 | 

MckKiaight; H. W., Lo iso7ao: 
1868 

McLaughlin, A., O. 1864 
Mcsherry, G., L. 1882, O. 1883 


N 


Newcomer, H: D., Ly 18978O: 
1898 

Nicholas, W. H., L. 1894, O. 
1895 

Null, T. W., L. 1904, O. 1905 


O 


Oswald, Jonathon, L. 1829, O. 
1830 
Owen, 8. W., O. 1864 


P 


Ralmeres lov 

Parker, G.-Gs, O2:1910 

Parr, A. A., L. 1889, O. 1890 

Parson, G., L. 1844 

Peterman, R27E 47 L A519: 
1912 

Peters, W. H., L. 1919, O. 1920 

Piahlers Vib lal S44 

Phillipys, NoGs 1910 

Bhittw) mK ealeeksou 

Poffinberger, J. W., L. 1874 

Probst# G7.@, san 1358 

Probst,-L: K., L. 1878; OF 13849 


R 

Rasmussen, C. C., L.,.1914, O. 
1915 

Redecay, Harold, L. 1921, O. 1922 
Rehmeyer, L. H., L. 1918 
Renter, A., L. 1852 . 
Rentz, W. F., O. 1880 
Reynolds, W., L. 1835 
Rachardy J 2W. Gbels7d 
Riess, C., L. 1885 
Ritter, C. L., O. 1894 
RitzvBs Cerlalol5 
Roberts, ©. G., L. 1915 
Robinson, Felix, G., L. 1924 
Rosenstengel, W., L. 1878 











LICENSES AND 


Roth, G:,-L. 1851 

RoOveOs Gee Oe 1881 

OWE Dealt 8/38 0 als74 

Ruby, E. C., L. 1904, O. 1905 

Rudisill, A. J., L. 1895, O. 1896 

Rudin le Bw wy 1915" OO el916 

Rudisill, E. 8., L. 1914 

Rudisill, Jacob E., L. 1921 

Rudisill SiH. L. 1914 

Rudolohw hls O21912 

vat leves Gravion Lave 1 O4 7) 

Ruthmiller, W. L. B., L. 1915, 
O. 1916. 

Ruthrauff, Jonathan, O. 1827 


S 


Salzgiver, W. E., L. 1914 

Sandhouse, M., L. 1844 

Schaeffer, ©. F:, O.. 1831 

ScoanizelaJd. He le. 1857 

Scherer, J. J., L. 1903 

Schmogrow, J. 8. W., L. 1850 

Schmucker, B. M., L. 1847 

Schmucker, 8. M. G., L. 1842, 
O. 1844 

Schock, J. L., L. 1841, O. 1842 

Schultze, Gustavus, L. 1827, O. 
1830 

Seibert, J. F., L. 1891 

Seiler, George H., L. 1923, O. 
1924 

Seligman, W. M., L. 1911, O. 
1912 

Sell, E. H. M., L. 1858 

mpbatrettsweN. Gi) Ls 2182640): 
1827 

Shearer, T. E., O. 1911 

Sheeder, P., L. 1849 

Sheffer, G. H:, L. 1914, O.. 1915 

Shimer, H. D., O. 1899 

Shindler, C. N., L. 1912, O. 1913 

Shindler, Raymond C., L. 1921, 
O. 1922 

Shriver, P. J., L. 1899 

Sieber, J. L., L. 1902 

Sieber, L., L. 1875 

Simonton, ©. 8.,.07 1919 

Slater, S. E., L. 1887 


ORDINATIONS 129 

Shfer, L. W., L. 1919 

Slifer, W. G., O. 1894 

Smith, D., O. 1843 

pimutne). Wee ORS 27 

Sinithy Viak Le TOL O19 12 

Snyder, H. G., L. 1889 

Snyder, J. M., L. 1877, O. 1878 

Spangler, H. R., L. 1909, India 
O. 1910 

Spangler, W. D., L. 1914 

Stare, R., L. 1887, O. 1888 

Stauffer, H. A., L. 1910, O. 1911 

Steck, A. R., L. 1885 

Stein, C. H., L. 1912 

Steck, J., O. 1854 

Steinhofer, C. G., L. 1827 

Stermer, J. E., L. 1914 

Stine, M. H., L. 1879 

Stock, H. B., L. 1895, O. 1896 

Stoever, C., L. 1836 

Stoner, J. R., L. 1905 

UrOCKee) ahve le LO05 

SHR O Aha NTO Iya 

Stun Ae Geen ABS OU Oanleso L 

Studebaker, E., L. 1857 

Stump, A., L. 1880, O. 1881 

DUNdaAy mW eee lies Om1OT9 

DUULOD Mem ue) rap) Weve ho) 107 

Swartz, E., L. 1842 

Swartz, J. W., L. 1859 

Dwarize Web. Li iSo07O. 1854 

Swope, D., L. 1854 


if 


(homes ehoe lee S91 Oe L8 92 
Townsend, D., L. 1873 
Treibly, D. B., L. 1888 


Ulrostie, Law 5 -L.19067 02.1907 


Vv 

Valentine, M., L. 1852 

Venable, Chas. L., L. 1921 
W 


Wade, W. A., L. 1904 
Wagner, Ralph L., O. 1922 
Walterick, J. H., L. 1875 


130 


Wampole, J. F., L. 1856, O. 1857 
Warner, A. N., L. 1874, O. 1875 
Weaver, W., O. 1847 

Weber, L. 1843 

Wedikind, A. C., L. 1848 
Weible, J., L. 18387, O. 1838 
Weigle, D. E., L. 1909 

Weigle, E. D., L. 1877, O. 1878 
Weikert, S. A., L. 1842 

Wel Coe i ss0sOrisaL 
Weise, A. J., L. 1861 

Weiser, R., O. 1834 

Wickey, N. J. G., L. 1914 
Wiest, C. F., L. 1897, O. 1898 
Wiles, C. P., O. 1896 

Wilkins, B. C., L. 1902 
Williams, J. T., L. 1838, O. 1839 
Williams, L. T., L. 1843 
Williams, 8., O. 1845 

Williard, L. 1841 


History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Willis, J., L. 1876 

Willox, J. L., L. 1840, O. 1841 
Witmer, C., L. 1844 

Wolf, A. G., L. 1889 

Wolt, FE. BO 863 

Wolt, J) Ba 1S 764088 ar 
Wolf, L. B., L. 1882, O. 1883 
W olf, N&S.L 1906. Oso 


ve 


Yarger, H.S., L. 1885 
Yeager, G., L. 1830, O. 1831 
Young, L. 1840 

Young, Lek hai912 


Z 


Ziegler, H., L. 1843 
Zimmerman, J., L. 1856 
Zimmerman, M. F., L. 1884 


CHAPTER XIV 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 
(INCLUDING ONLY PRESENT TERRITORY) 


A 
EATS a) SAM es iat ha ae Ouiicey Setet ane see ee ae 
WUE Pod Ces aie a Papen Carlisle; toa) Pte id ee ak ee 
BrOCLUS ACO De tints Wk Wome FaSte Berle ee eee nee ment eae 
Hanover, New Oxford, Stone 
Chutctheteepaue es rere gsc. 
/IUTEY CTE TR BAP SR a eae ee SHTDDEMSDUT Os saan ree he ee 
ANN Wg ke MC pws in reece Chambersburg, . lrinitye 3). 2.5. 


Cetiysburos Christin sd se earner” 


Pd lemian cE sigeru cs octet FELULIES COW tae) OLS seare tee 


Allison, W. M 
Anstadt, H... 


Aughe, A. H.. 
em rands Cs Gr 


FLOmnO Viel ee VIALLNG Wes, tae 
JA ANOW CIS CelViEKeS 5a eee wae 
PVECles Lowiies tele Uliode on eee oe 
BOL K S611 OU eal geet meh crear ait, 
ING Wa) X1OlC re teres eee ee ae 
DELO Grr 0.0 GC iemenr Re eae 
COTS Lem ADs gs en eae eee ne 
UOT aS Levy Ue: Sem Gaited) ouviaee 
WY Orkeotewvlatthew See 
OTA SU OLOT.S amen a eae.) ne 
iI stand hk hes Vercersburd aa eee, ao 
IWews OXLord fous wows fae whe 


GelttysburcnGuiist ey ee 
Chambersburg ehirsiy se pete 
oO RAO a ee Geltysburcms ta) aiieceae ee ae 
WanGhes (Crap tance eee Gamer g a. 


Abad Moe Gee NY OFICES DE IIGS peeeeiet Sree aes 

Mc C@onnellsburdayees ere ae 
A gee A ai Peds L201 shaw ay nko h emo 

Worindless prileseg wren ac ae, 
EM thie ee Workssrinity ese ae eee: 
Se Gee te Bondersyilles, sna) ae 
bh oe, ee Pebanonuweuedaa: tro wirs as) aor a hee 
ee atl ee Mig SOY tert ere Water iee te 


ee ee VELL LOLY 015 OLLI Oe S DTI S.2 eee 
Dame Pam WOK {Grace ake nen tere ee 


B 
TGR ES: Mechanicsburg, New Kingston. . 


Mechanicsburg, New Kingston. . 
DICKIWiSOl eres eee peek oe re 


131 


1893—1896 d 
1872—1881 
1825—1828 


1837—1848 
1874—1887 
1891—1896 
1896—1900 
1856—1857 


1881—1890 
1882—1883 
1889—1897 d 
1891—1892 
1915—1918 
1918—1924 
1895—1906 
1906—1911 
1918— 
1852—1854 


1901—1918 
1918—1920 
1917-1925 
1913—1915 
1914—1917 
1881—1887 
1905—1913 
1875—1878d 
1913—1918 


1836—1839 
1846—1852 
1856—1861 
1877—1892 d 


132 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Baechtel VieB irae 2 oe: NMiercersburocvi cee 1853—1854 
Baer, C. HAND 5 ed ROU ae Wir olitovall Gere tote, cee tena 1855—1856 
Bakere.Ge We) seaee eee DaNastOwn, 4c do eee eee 1886—1888 
SAlGIn ato dc Ay cee Glare gees: nea 1888—1890 
YOLK: SM tra, so ee eee eee 1895—1897 
New. OXxTOrd saved. .oe bee eee 1911—1917 
Baker’ LL. a eee eee INGw ville Z1On7)¢ sear tee 1861—1867 
Bakere J.B 2a ae York Sil Péter’stuu bynes. eae 1904—1906 
Geliysburo ol. J dines se acre 1909—1922 
Baker, R. W.. ee er LTC OG ane tate th ane eae 1921— 
Bare, pM ee Oh eal I) alas TOW lane ee eee ae 1898—1902 
Balninz, Brea S42 % oie York 7 Viiddletowns).e) saa 1884-—1889 


Bastian, Corps Soa ae Littlestown, St. John’s..........1903—1909 
Baughere Prot risus, Sr.. Gettysburg College............./1832—1841 
1865—1868 
Baugher, Prof. H. L:, Jr. Gettysburg College.......<.....1871—1880 
1881—1899 





Batra WAN oe eee © Y OFK POLL AUS, bee ak eens 1862—1874 
Becker, ID). R Pot RAE Beh A Littlestown Syidt oh aocs, Wher eet Bers Cone RACE okie 1888—1893 
News ranklints marca Og tae, e 1898—1906 
Upper Bermudian... . «.3.s4--. 1915—1919 
Beckley, Gali. ne... o@ SHIPPCHSDUIS, «seven. re eee ees 1865—1868 
Béckncrs Dee a ee NEW LOIN OS LON ae ent oer eee 1875—1877 
Berg pnt eee ee reste Shrewsbury, Lebanon. ;..+ 2. .+.:: 1843—1873 
Chambersburg, Second......... 1873—1875 
Bergstresser, FL, eo elambersburg. Brinityeaa ee 1909—1913 
Bergstresser, H. C..;.:;.. Littlestown, St. Paul’s......-... 1918—1925 
Bergstresser, R. H.....:.:Hanover, St. Matthews’........ 1917— 
Berkey HtE oes 32.) :ed Dione yt ee ee 1895—1901 
Gel_ivsbure «ee ita eee ence 1923— 
Bell WA eae aerials Bowlin so Springer a ee 1890—1894 
York 5) ukeis acres trainee 1894— 
Belle Sid epenn ce hed tae AT6n Cts Ville; vines ene eee 1858—1860 
Betideratin Wine ee re Diekinsons ee eo eee 1898—1901 
NewS GU Heste rent. tesa sree 1901—1906 
Berry;ile Bese ee AW Ie Sil Cesare 20 eee ie 1860—1863 
Bickel eh See we ee tee Upper Bermudian... /.6274 2452-5 1908—1911 
ING Wal rain clit eee eee eee 1922— 
Billtcimerss aes VOLKSS Pring sagen ees oe 1904—1910 
Billheimer, Cahn side oot SHIP pensbure.. ae eee as eee 1868—1873 
Birch, T. Brio t ete ds! Boiling Springs ier a yeh eh ee 1894—1896 
Mechanicsburg, Irving College.. ¢ 
Bixlenerio Cyne ageee ee pVanchester] (ee sa sere ee -1893—1901 
Blackll 7S ase at aint cme! Gettysburg sl risie sen ene 1893—1896 
Blackwelder, IBY. INE, ee «New Ghester) sus) or ioe naa sed: 1866—1867 
York PTLD SS ene el cae knee 1867—1870 
Uppers trasburwareee f0uce oe 1876—1877 
ATend tsVilig. te eee fermen 1877—1887 
Bian kes). seen eee ne OTK Elavern em tern anne ame 1909—1911 
Blint, EcH ee reser eshittlestown «SU tP ats sam ssa OOs ites 
Bonnell, W.S.092 00 (tet Ol SOL eee ene 1908—1910 
Parr 6] ee ree ean eerie .. 1917—1920 
BOWer EL atl ae eee ee OPK OSDUTS vere 2 ee ee ater 1921— 
York eWlessia live ee oe kee ela 1921—1923 
Bowers. Ghote eee ee Upper Frankl ordosnowk eee 1886—1888 
WiOrky > RL Uhe.s ah neg ee eres 1888—1893 
Bowers; AP pense. eee Shippensburg Oda, bauk Fees 1918—1925 
Bowersox, Genesee ODTCWSDULYP Rae tet ae a ee 1918— 
Bowersox, HD. : 3243 7% Rossvillesar ees ee eee ae 1911—1916 


LY OLK; 4 tend) IGS: eee ee eee 1917—1925 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 


133 


SOW At tie ae es Chambersburg; Second... 2... 1849—1851 
SOSA yt Shin he oo his ec Cettvsbiremsteelames p22) oo. 1923— 
Brame, (it ele cy aan Powernleranktordig; <.'9.:.l. 00. 1891—1921 
Brandaw, dale TS eee Chambersburg, Second.......... 1844—1848 
Breidenb ach, E Mee cha Newwillewe Zion sees: eee oes 1845—1849 
. Greencastleverped. 15 htt ee et 1852—1865 
CrEtiys DUtO es Ce Onesie ne Woes eo 1865—1872 
1906 d 
Brerdenbach ewes Wiue tes. YOLKS STL GSW eee ee les het 1878—1882 
PSTOUDEMIA LW taba oeeils De Dal Olle cme th atime Pa Reet 1922— 
eight hi ol id Rasa ie Sree pe Rossvallegieeew cect oes, 18, fercl.% 1867—1868 
Dillsburgeie Weslo Pes > aa ee 1869—1871 
1899 d 
Brmekman mAs Os... nce Chambersourceo.ecoude at anne 1853—1854 
Is igan itn Ale, (Cam gee on ee CVU CNaeh eae Ree. Lago ark Beers, 1889—1891 
NICKCETSDUTOMpemerg aia ee 1906—1907 d 
IS LOW Une) Sea ere reais woe be AW OLK ATO s. Resin nate ec eee 1848—1849 
morkss G@haplaitiemewed alas eos, 1861—1864 
Gettysburg I heos semis ee: 1864—1881 
1882 d 
ESO eV Lp tie ie NCOLK ems lagi CLIC W.S- en ees 1921— 
se GtHI TVS ol beg oes apa ae Wire i isa] Geren, eiedieeai A 1890—1893 
LW, OL KS PILUGS Senet ween ees 1900—1901 
IB elnene jabs. PaADICkinconsas ee Petre tye. 1896—1898 d 
Burger, Sy (oar series IWLISS Ola Cee LCase, een eee 1898— 
Burkholder, Hi Bee ee CGreencast] Cc a areata Atty eke) 1918— 
Burnite, D. C.. York, St. Peter’s . .1906—1912 
Bush, Taye ares oe, [SeMmlOv Gap eee one Milas ta, cate 2 1918— 
C 
(Coveney Jk 1 Cra ctr carne: COVER Vou ents See Sk ot 1844—1854 
CH TISURI ED Meee Wirichts vile aaa ey ene 1852—1853 
(CII NY L IDL ee ria eure eas SDE GACXTO VCs nena oka trate eee 1905—1914 
large ie i peeie sek hes COLE 8 tly La CLG ws a eee ee 1903—1911 
LALO wIaLL Ree ENS, eas Chambersburg, SeCOnC ae een 1876—1881 
ING weO xi Orde see een e418 ol inn 1892—1893 
ADDOLIStOWiipge tet ota. vanes 1892—1908 d 
EMICTICM@ Esse tates wed Chambersbure; second... a)... .) 1839—1840 
PAU UZe ee) et eiah ht es ING WALL Gaeta we ton ered td tenes 1872—1873 
Geltysburdms ta anesoetae aa 1904—1909 
Gettysburg. Theo. Seminary....... 1909-1925 d 
(Cilsangtetgy 1a 0 UR rt he gran iierericele) Mice T ene. oe ANN Gey cnn ee AZ 1885—1890 
(Po Diem OP) We anckk ek aunt Bencersya | lemme esse cea ay ean 1924— 
Coffelt; C: M pr FLOSSy ILC SMM parks: le tscle oae 1916—1920 
Wrightsville Se gee ee 1920—1924 
(Ole OR EL aite ton. Ach abate OUIN Cy ie eee eee ea eee 1908— 
Cook, EIS Peed cic seth i ELanovVeies LULU eee ee a ee, 1899—1904 
(On Owe ver) be ye Rae ce Windsortrgy rises ti Gal oh cee 1862—1871 
FROSSViLlCtln a ater eben ees 1872—1873 
LY. OF ke COunl tee i ee eancn es cee 1873—1893 
GOUraC erm eek tn eee UAT Ders Ouro a Mins tera t ween oa: 1864—1866 
COON CT RIN LG eens 6 ie GrethysDUrom@ DCs pan ea aes 1901—1904 
Gettysburg, Theo. Seminary... .1905— 
COFOSSULATI MY Late samen cee Mt. Holly, Boiling eee Peale 1878—1882 
Grisshian Eee Ll ee eee Orc laven alin mei sha at 1899—1903 
Crist, I: Bier io cee Dallasto wie Cpe te eee 1895—1897 
Ole ele hee Ol DUOaSeehambersburd seme: 1892—1908 


Cross, W.M 


ee TTECN COS OMe Maren Ca wk Gt 


(TLeenGastiasEiighsscChook eee 


1905=- 1915 
1918— 


134 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Crousesaleiie ee tee pee Ste Chonvase tt Sei ee eae 1895—1903 
Culler SV 2a oes ee ee IMercersbulgc ya mses eee see 1881—1890 
Gullen Sh a cee ae Se@venay alleystr. sw oe 1918— 
D 
Daron thoes. ee (@arlislemsecond , os raeeee 1878—1883 
TASER SS Sat eee cee erate Dewisberrvet 2ece, canoe sun eens 1859—1865 
Prossville nie setae pees eee 1861—1867 
New Market, W. Fairview...... 1867—1872 
Wes UMEaIT Vi CWaa.t, een ee ees 1896—1901 
Day, Gall Re tases: Uppersstrasburg: se eee 1903-—1905 
Dean OSCls eee Planovers Stebatiliss ee eee 1924== 
DeiningereA G2 ee PasteBerlincdecn yet au. re see 1828—1853 
ETSI ere la en Res ee oe eee 1835—1879 
Baradises@ntisl, Gurl yaa 1828—1880 
Deiningers Gale a eee MOTKRCOULLY new” oO eee 1852—1885 
WanChestena:.2 te oe eee ee 1857—1865 
HettrichJsak.-6 wee Dickinson: tay on a eee 1873—1876 
Diehl CORWe wee ee Chambersburg, Second......... 1902—1908 
Works brinit Vie anc eae ee eee 1925— 
DiehsSAtea eee ee Upper BranktOrd ee: pe eee eee 1875—1885 
Bendersville eet eee 1902—1909 
Mt Carmi cleeeen seyret cere 1909—1920 
Dietinchaae eee. ee Riverton eae ae ee ee 1900—1902 
New, Cilesteraseaeet eco ee 1906—1914 
Diet lrichebi cen were cee Frossvilleey awit aoe eee 1887—1890 
Dietterich ss Elsekoe eee Rossville: Se eee Cy eee 1876—1878 
Dietzler 2) BM ee eae Dover Ses. sae a eee 1895—1905 
Diffenderfer, G. M......- CarlislesPirstieaes ee ae ee eee 1900—1913 
Carlisle, Sec. es Fund see 1913—1918 
Chaplain: (U3 aA freee ee 1918—1919 
Dolbeer4Wesblcee eee MtiHoliv: ne eee. ee 1914—1920 
Drawbauche DP re MeConnellsburg Hee eee 1895—1900 
DutGehi eer eee ee mlrasburg. 22 semen on nee 1866—1869 
Hranktord selalnie| deena eee 1869—1874 
West Halrview seus oe cae 1874—1875 
Lowerelranklordsn eee ane 1875—1880 
E 
Figcers\ Eons em Gee Carlisle sSecond re. garner 1870—1875 
Ehrenfeld Gs ee ShipDenSDULG\ aie ee eee 1863—1865 
Ehrhart rel eee ae sl rindlegs prin GS een eae ene eee 1908—1910 
EbrhoarGeyis Crete: oe Dickinsonsay seer ee 1866—1868 
West Dalvie Waanga ses neater 1886—1888 
Ehrharteawe Lite ee CLLCLS Olli eet tee te er oe ee 1903— 
ElQiGeBie ys eee iArendtsville2 pear eee 1923— 
EndersG@r a WV eee ee Gellysbureestelames ees) eae 1873—1874 
WOLKS-CDrIS tippers, acu hea 1882—1921 c 
Enders;'Giaw..) Jie yore Ealadisema. or ete ieee ee ee 1913— 
Fngle.Ocheee 4 Ne ee Carlisle seconds 4.48.0) see eee 1875—1876 
Erhard, 2Ace a Ree Rossvillece sateeinn. tel ee 1883—1887 
Ernes taki ielo% weer eee nen Bolingss priigsaeee on shaken 1903—1907 
HIneyye eG. cack ae eee York, Elmwood Advent........ 1923— 
FissiGky Al epret sc cou ee RYOLK. ZIG Ree eee ee a 1849—1850 
Gettysburg aot Jamnesys cn ee 1861—1864 
Chambersburg yae. ay teas see 1883—1904 
EV ans v5) Uheehie en ee ee NewvillesZione tee. oe eee 1852—1860 


EvelerneGs Wie. arene Bossvilleck) cst nok centayer eas 1904—1910 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 135 
Disha arew tele cai. een ss at 1913—1922 
Eittlestowsae te. ObN Ss; 2 450 LO 
IU VGLOLU LEN 5 icky dn esate GTeencastlemereaae a wis. % . Lees 1870—1872 
OGRA LOO sete Pra or la ae 1898—1914 d 
YS LCE a Cra exe 3 line DEVETRY HUleys ewer 16a An oe. 1884—1885 
PONG UCE isl) et ran net el hia GOLUVSDULD Meme a ts eres 1860—1862 d 
PGW SLELMEIV eeeeet ott s, viec Caceres GGTOCICas tle ammmie rk hee Orne 1846—1849 
INGweltranklinasts 2-5 tea ek 1846—1847 
CCl re VON ea cs epee Clam bers bureiairstrpte ee 1853—1859 
F 
Malkensceli¢rs.Orcee whe tee INGW Ville Ue edUl seyret ween 1924— 
Pastnacht..Ae Geers. 24. DOUMS Springs, VL tel Loll yas oan. 1873—1875 
PCOPK 5 WOT OU art eae ett ene. Mixes 1877—1903 
Salen OVGIs meets 4 Ret 1905—1916 
VOLK pee eRe SURE AA 1 ee: 1916— 
TE ACOLE Pee ister nt Pah grt CSTCCTION LL [Semen sere eset Feet vane 1911—1913 
SCATVIC Woe Mere ain oe ae tees ae 1913—1914 
Eessol tse Ce ea tne oer Wic@onnelsburgete. ame eee 1907—1910 
iclcunanee Willette. fehy OF Ke LU IOI een eet 2 en iets. 1914— 
elena Awe Cie ee ole fiir: ise bomass iNew .erankling ose. 1869—1871 
DICKINSOUM eer trata ee 1871—1872 
Dellon Wiigee a: ours eke = WestelalrvicWet eit. wk fede ec: 1882—1883 
PIC (LEC fea er Ele cere nace « INICrCELSDUL CG Seemre nities a ee 1898—1905 
Dickinson ree ie Can or 1901—1905 
(EWG Y eo A ARG, Re ce eae Ree eg NiteSsiOnary LLCs tee eee 1920— 
SHG T ey Pit et ne Chambersburg, Second......... 1841—1844 
PILL OC me Nt ew et foie ee DLLUISD UTR eee eed OF Met 1859—1864. 
Pelec lew Else wr et ce eee News Kings COnere re ae 1865—1871 
INE WNILLGeZi0OD many ene eine. oe 1871—1872 
Mechanicsburg, Trindle Springs. 1872—1875 
ING WeISINSStON ners sere eee 1881—1899 
HIeCoe Wats. cee eee Eo AIVive lc ureters tered 000th O08, Cac 1910—1917 
TittLliestOw Nm taal Sania 1917—1918 
CIOL Sli ae Geen ip pers Bermudianme rn meer ate” 1920—1924 d 
HIGLOMCE tee pie ase e 5. Benders ville ae eee 1910—1912 
Hellam & Canadochley.........1918—1922 
CGoldsborow Vita Z101is eee 1922—1925 
" VECAET Olle tigate wie crook 1925— 
TOVEL aL) aD qanet fel aee Newville, Zion..... Feat eirc 1885—1899 
Mochi GaGiee ty A... Dickinson tween ween chece tue, 1890—1893 d 
FOCI L pl) Midst ee tne SU EOI aS eee ewes ent tan eee 1853—1855 
Fayetteville, New Franklin...... 1850—1853 
TOC Ie al Veeeta te 8 Bera ot. DONS DUT oes ee aa ee el ee, ce, 1855—1859 
INGwa Chester cree ted. tants Reel 1852—1856 
Vic Gonnellsburcwam 6) <n 1874—1876 
RL OPSCLEL Aa fete an) oe, Bayette va lloiwee arr Scere 1903—1904 
Elanover hpi eemeae et eek e 1904—1908 
FADDOULSLOW Dia eee tec i 1908—1911 
ECORC UIT ped ee ee A ets. Carlisle: Rae me en tee lake 1882—1885 d 
[kOe vey a Bet Se Sia eee oe ee Dillsburg tae aeehotce e ae 1905—1907 
Fipancisnh oat AN oerse tee POY Scares OF ME AYES 5) we che WAN es te 1865—1867 
Sere ANG ae een AR Carlisle gem tae cece eure fess Bn. 1882—1885 
OLE hs tae a Lesbos care aries 1885—1898 
PDO Ris iss ole cece RRs a Aas 5) Rat oe Ge RP ke 1863—1871 d 
LGW aN A Taek Dip le Noe CA ee ge C@arlislewSecOUuds ees. a hs es ei 1859—1860 
Leer ae NT ERIRE ei Peniey 4. fo <r Dickinson eer ee ee ce chin tees 1920 
Perens aa ic ass Carlisle: eerie ste meet en. 1854—1865 


136 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


G 
Garnes® EL. .o..nc atte eas: ManGhestenrartiiave.aeh yee 1912—1914 
Gartiesy St Aus Sinn arty eps SIC ITISODS 14. VAL cease toe re 1915—1922 
Garnés, 5S Sane oye ere bre S Drugs Ce w eeeet a eae ee 1914—1918 
Gaver, MV Die oie tee: Mt. Holly, Boiling Springs....... 1882—1890 
Geeseye ho Se en ae eee Niahlén berger soe ai ce nen 1893— 
Geesey, M. D.. fete UD Pcles tras Ul cme ment eee 1909—1911 
Geiger, “GED wee Chambersburg, Secon disses 1922—1924 
Gelw icks, A EE ay. UD Perastrasburer: any ees 1859—1860 
Viechanicsburcy = eee 1862—1868 
Genhart) Gale = etgete Upper Bermudian: eae 1890—1893 
Gerhard) bees ee eee A DDOULSUD Will eda toe peers 1837--1838 
ND DOLEStO Was eo aee, aie Gee ee 1850—1861 
INC Wi Oxf OT Ue tpeee wed es grace cee 1852—1862 
Geyharte ee eee Tin Clegs pring sa emea tears eens 1908—1910 
Nit Elly ae rte aera eee 1910—1914 
German sWie eee JOSS VIL OR tient eee ea ee 1841—1843 
Ourckéleyaaae Ae fe ee 1842—1848 
DON CIF Bias et rl a ee a ae 1843—1848 
Gerstinyerahi. be eee Wlanchestciae yon ah ote 7) on ae 1914—1918 
Newville ste Pauli Sane tis nes 1918—1923 
Gettleawer Greets eee ae Getty sbtirg meaty) serie overs 1889—1896 
Getty tG mtn Be cae VOLK 2/101 oe arene «, wane 1915— 
GIDSOM WHEL eee ee Fayetteville, asaer eee ee 1840—1842 
Gitaltil Gane 2 ae Stahley’s, Bleimier’s, Frey’s. .1831—1835 
Gladfelder™ Py). .fc5ne Green Hill Ferre eh Eee: Tar hae Re 1907—1910 
ROLES DIINO Steaua ee oe eae 19112-1920 
ADDOLLSLOW Doe ee ee 1920— 
Glanding, WW IML AB a Os, StalViarhewto. = ee eer 1898—1902 
Goetiman he eee Dickinson Pie a ee We Res 1862—1863 
Goodling dW tee ee ae York, Secy. Home Mission 
Boardgiger 5 arated Gea eee 1871—1883 
GOoUwaldgil)ee 9. wees Petersburg, Adams Co.. .. .1830—1838 
Gotwald wie Gx, . Gems = oy Ok MU rini ty ee seeet neces eee ee 1914—1917 
York, Secy. Board of Education. 1904— 
GO Lye Gene A eer ers Shippensburg eek ES. eRe SE 1859—1863 
Chambershurg # First tre ane | 1869—1874 
WOLK ADU atl] Ss eee eee 1874—1885 
GoOtwea ld Sala Se) tre Missionary, Inidiauet Sa.: toe ee 1921— 
Crabe ret) SG eee ee peeear Kreutz Creek, Canadochly 
SLAVET SURO es oe oe —1833 
Greenhoe ks silume de 2 ee Dallacto wile mae es a entee enn 1904—1912 
Upper strasburaewe eee eee 1913—1924 
GLOLS a een Wechanicsburcs se ee ee 1861—1862 
Lrindless prings heen. ee 1863—1870 
Gross «Gel Rane eee New (VLarkettiea mt citagt ora 1880—1882 
CTOSS: RISA Pe a ks ee MUgHolhyaSpringea ee ee 1909—1910 
SLA ee Ce eet eect ne ee 1923—1925 
(GTOSSTN AIAN) oe eee oes Devene Valle ycoineemeeye sane nee 1911—1912 
GrossmansheiG.. 4, 22) eNew. Chestermae nae ne 1867—1868 
Ccrossinan alvin ee Green Hilla ee Lee 1898—1899 
Grove, HM os eat ee aVicchanicsburo gee et eee ee 1921—1923 
GrUDD Jee eee ere INew. Kingstone ieee 1908—1912 
Gruver.Op Hive bee oe celdaryi leew een we ete eee 1899—1904 
Upper Bermudian, arnt ce 1900—1904 
GUIDO V7) Serko oh ree OL CLES 711 96 ee ee ee 1895—1904 
Gruss iA 3, Ah 0 ie ee Dickinson ans ereee, ee eer cc 1861—1866 
(Gruss 2) ba lV en ae eee eee Reedy bicn oy a oats Ge een 1923— 


Guss, Usha S224. anne OLIN SS oprincsme her eraeipe en 1914—1917 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 137 


H 
Baer Cray lune denies CAs ap (ghancerond Gir aeawie viet cc gist dn ee 1924— 
Hain, ALS! 5a Air IN EW LO CUO IMamnargs ) Sybex O20 sitane a 1914—1921 
Hamsher, IN) be = ae WOGKeao Ey LOL enews. les a 1914—1921 
Niechanicspurem. a0. ch. ce ee 1923— 
Pl amke yen Wes tig’ To gece e Upper Sermo gers: hii sc conte ke 1884—1890 
Bendersvill@ye gees 2 anak 1894—1902 
Leal Wit he ioe vie, yee Barre CVETLTL CME noi ON gure tee thee ns: hee 1871—1872 
PLA Cys clin Vies iced aye eee FOSS yilleeiiiencsameed Cole soya. ha. 1848—1850 
GYSencustles et poe tea eed 1850—1852 
PID KC MW ROL uglis, toean 1.0 « INGW VLG ZOD Neen tage fete co tr 1849—1852 
Lier a Leet see eV LOLCCL SOU ROM te Mee eN nm fhe eo 1908—1911 
WS OLKepo lee VIS CCHGWeGt cn het aae 1911—1914 
LATE yee Pa Seem ett er ts Gag Chambersburg, Trinity.........1896—1900 
POT NET tea @) igen cer) rs tetas FLOSS wil le Sete ree tas ee eons tare, 1920—1923 
aT Cre) Aare oe pre ts one, GITCCU CISL LOM epee ae ee res ae 1835—1837 
WiestaVianhenmigeetes eon cae 1839—18142 
LATA MIA WEN LO: hoes aes oe: Chambersburg euirstsaa eee 1875—1889 
SCCRECL alV LARS Cee ee tne Pare 1889— 
EPEAT leek eseks aK NOC WV LLC w 1OlL eee cet cei at arenes, 1908—1910 
bebe i aeeswaby ML Wades 2 cele Pe SCALED OMASUENeN Reis Poncho, 1885—1895 
Picisckor ea leer en Gaal bersbuly seconds |. oa), 1896—1898 
PPAUer lS e as ees oe ha oF A DDOULSLO Wakes every otitis 3 1862—1872 
1901 d 
WYER V ANS Ran tcch so) Ls eed eas 1873-—1882 
Muhlenberg, Spring Grove......1880—1889 
IL By ete rds Pat ke Hanover and Littlestown, St. 


John’s, New Oxford..........1848—1849 
Gettysburg, Theo. Seminary... .1844—1849 
1865—1893 





avec ett sey, ide wee VieConnelisburonme sete cace 19102-1914 
ZS ALR 50 hia se ole 2 Gettysburg, Theo. Seminary... .1830—1833 
een em Lise Wawa se eee ULNA Se eee ees ee oe 1897—1898 
PleagncouG, Gri iaiaa aoe Chambersburg, Second:......... 1908—1911 
ELC Ck IN) Sree Cee LA Nas eo NewyvillemZionsaeae te. aes, 1841—1844 
1850 d 
PLSD esa Ser hn eke AG a OTK. SPLIT ORs en otecae: 1872—1877 
Newville, St. Paul’s............1883—1886 
ELC LICL Mm NVEN Cs sense es ey BPayetteville Se. tee pee tenn eas 1896—1°02 
Hege, Skat. Seton Dover. oaleri eee mmr. te ee, 1916— 
FA GIS UA apr ark ch oe Stal homas, Strasburg.. ..1849—1850 
Mechanicsburg, New Franklin... .1852—1854 
POW HENIVOUSCNIUGR Pc. 3, 1 By ae nrg SLOOPY 
LGU LOM (arte te! ht, nog AN CW LLO/d ON Rees wegen ra, 5 okt —1826 
ELC) ioe Wee Pe aie 8 ya A DDOUISLOWneenme. ane ae 1842—1845 
Perrin wore ai gy a 4 Dallas 0 Wal wee gh acre sae. 1s92- 1804 
Shrew sburr vera, ane ae ee: 
Flanover step Via tthew Ss. scsan a 1906—1916 
PLC LAVA LIM ML eWAV Le ha cca a NALS CE eres ON NE eis ar nny RCL cw 1887—1893 
Hiathinan weer NY CLK SOTin goes emt tes tan 1902—1904 
PNIDDeNS DUTT. aaa ae ee 1925— 
Meade Arwen 8). eae) SOLE AV eI) 6 aera ee or ——1898 
Pleigleie VW aliens =, horns. Bencdersvi lies a saaneG seein 1880—1883 
DUS UO eee gee on ae: 1887—1891 
Had teh CO a se Oates a sae Wes News Gies tert paucerre «Monee, bs Ani: 1898—1901 
len Ci pap l say ence ol te es Westallanherm syne ses cy aa ee 1913—1915 
Dallastownweesmerne cat aoa, ee 1915— 
PlenwieKGmie), 2 ah ee Dan berspure socCOnUeen atl. 1885—1891 


OUT yee Cr S(O, trae sac. ht wh Shippensburdasssvers eet ah ie 1894—1909 d 


138 


Henry, L. E 


FIGhry oe ewe 


FICHCY See 
Herbst, John 
FLETIING psn n eet eee er 


Herman, S. W 
Elershey. 1a bl wena 


Hesse, C, Fo V 


Hesse, F. D 


Flesses William... 
Hesson, A. J 


Hoffman, W 
Hollinger, A. M 


Holloway, H. C 
Honeycut, J. E 


Pooper ee 


Hoshour, E. E 
HoyeG Awe oe 
Huber Cart 
rakvngesestery ocho (BRA os foc 


Ibach, W. O 


[denHigeenea tne, 


Irvine; Law 


Jacobs, Gi F 


CE CE (Omer? ACh y Ch (RC x) 


Oe) wife, eyo! fe! e100) ol ele. 


e's © ie je © 0 eVis) © @) koe 


HIstoRY OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Lebanon. 54s ieon See eee ee 1904—1914 
NY OTk. GouUnty phe oe eee cee 1844—1853 


Littlestown, St. John’s. 
iMttlestown, St. Paulise a. 2, ok 


Past Berlinias. wees oe 
Gettysburg, St. James’ 


West HalnvieWre.) eee eens een 
Weriohtsyilleigiy co eae ee 
WOrK Ro cM LUKG Ge ere eo cee 
Dickinson sue eet eee 
INewnille soi Paul s\8 ne eee 
Planovers Stsbaulssii 2 vane ee 
SLALVIC WS nie Hae ee eee ee 
Windsor Rank: Seas eee 
WOLKE@ oun tye Any oe ne 
NY OLKI COUNT Vaal eee eae 
Wiighisvi llevar). 1 0.20, \1.caree 
RIDCIMNASEOTS Seen. toch tee he eee 
FLallatia germ Oa eo, yee eee 
Shrewslunye see a tok aeieee 
TROGe RIOT ae ees Se eee 


5 


Gettysburg, St. James 
New Cumberland..... 


) Littlestown, St: John’s...» .. 
Chambersburo a hirst eee 


New. Erankline ee 


SsevennValleyctie nwa. ere 
WestsVianhelnevaas en ere 


INewnilleteZtoni sea 
New. Chesters 35:24: 


Upper straspurowe 72 ne 


INew aViarkepeeee er rae 


Franktordsgeyee eee oe 


Oia eee ee eee 
Demasterseae eee 
Kreutz.G@reck. 2. 


Strasburg, Orrstown..... 


Gettysburg Academy.. 


Spry—Windsor Park........ 


(Yer tech cieecer 


Cty Wy Cees Ct a 


aeiNew Eran klipe ees naan eee 
Mercersburos.y 2 eee ee 
Carlisle; 2yaee renee ee 
Dittlestown ip Ueeau ssa ee 


© hese ie we. ler sire) 6 


@: ie! ie] 1s, (o Meule si Fe 


© 00) fe) ediet Sue. fe 


Ce yee Bc) ey ety 


@: "9.§e (0. 0) 81 eu 6, 16 


J AS9I=-1893 


©. eo fey 6, te. © He! te 


...1859—1867 
1867—1869 
1890—1891 
1825—1829 
1872—1874 
1875—1881 
1883—1888 
1888—1889 
1889—1893 
1893—1899 
1904—1908 
1913—1914 
1840—1841 
1839—1852 
1902—1903 
1920—1923 
1923— 
1912—1918 
1918—1922 
1922— 
1894—1903 
1920—1922 
1872—1881 
1828—1830 
1906—1916 
1855—1857 


1921—1924 


.. .1826—1830 


1833—1843 
1833—1835 
1843—1853 
1912=-1915 
LOL ly 
1917— 

1879—1884 
1869—1872 
1872—1876 
1878—1880 
1863—1864 
1920—1923 
1923— 

1898—1900 


1894— 


evens Valleysae ean Bey ee aes 1914—1917 
Manchestensm eae see ce 1919—1923 
Littlestown, St. John’s.... .. -1L925— 

I 
RINGrlOtr sey ie aie ss ee eee 1899—1900 
QUINCY. eh roan batt ig ae pene 1891—1892 
Wests AIT Vie We en rame ane ean 1875—1877 
4) 
VOLK Oty AMesie crane eect 1902—1916 
iMcGonnellsbure gt) a eee 1917—1921 


te LOZ 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 139 


GODS LL) cemen: Bi au sie Gettysburg, Academy. ........ 23 1829—1830 d 
MACOD STV Lame rangers, Mid yg! ine Gettysburg, College............1832—1871 d 
einem Wat Cre Bice WT oe te tp kee Wilio Litoy ti lemeaneeee 2 plc ok 1925— 
RF STI RATIGR ee lt sein) «ces RUNG Wi WLLL GH eZLOTISE er costs" ghia co 0 VAs 1919— 
OUNSOM WV Oe ak ceeds | Harpe Game em th ee cee tee om 1865—1887 
OLC Vea Wisk] Move soso cy.8e WICKINGOL Ewin orca. Scr h oe tet 1886—1887 
WIOTLGK Li LGemeanmnters Fi). eer eerhs 1887—1889 
K 
WSAETN I) Clie aie euntee tora JeiersOneZcloleri st. . sit eae 1832—1837 
Shrewsbury, Jebano0n.s ok es. es 1833—1843 
Carlislommer ae. meee Ale een Hie 1843—1848 
WGS MBI Gila 5 ee Gee 1848—1853 
WIS O ee crete tet tars ne, aL 1853—1861 
GIG INOC Ken Chae ee 1863—1867 
ISOM eClel aL) syne ee Eictlestowileolel alls nae ree 1925— 
ES U7ae oe Le ee eee IC CODES DUL Ceres eine kee Monte 1880—1888 
C(ariisiG=s CCONd. nate tune, eee 1888—1890 
Devel \ aAlleyseertias see Ce 1898—1907 
Windsor barker ae ere oe 1919—1921 d 
ES CCK ICE RVG ae hos Gin Wi yeSDOlOss eee jet er 1862—1876 
MAveltevilleme: «eae twee Gaah 1876—1884 d 
CCCs Oana rer, aration t: DICKINSON p eee a eae tice ee: 1869—1871 
ASCISCL aA es See eee Geltysburgyoteuames ane 1858—1861 
INCI SLCUM Uta) aera eee nr Green Cas tlemere wea, ierh rs aad 1$95—1905 
Revers be ojaiiineeen ert Carlisle ywemeent ni ek abe he. te —1828 
Getiysbure sta allies @ wre 1836—1851 
Koller aC Le are eee DICkinsOl seer he eee. feet 1882—1884 
tel le tae Leeeee esha ee ee VTech aniCcD Ulmer er ote: —1851 
Ne Wein CSt OU te en etek 1827—1836 
1 SC hehe Ae Mi REN as oe aah er Greeneliillitwruwenc. .aic- chr hte. 1913—1918 
ECCI Meera ete ee eee iin lees DUI Cs smear we a ee 1896—1899 
INEwavlle 210 Livea er eee eee ce 1899—1904 
Racine die. ARs Aeon Ace ee ene INGW Ville Stebaulsaan ae ere 1894—1914 
iocners GaN Lae fe aneeea INewe Clester seam ty tu, oer 1895—1898 
Se Urclinalle een serene: INewnilesstaulist se sete 1914—1918 
[<elictinaleV Pid eee Stone; Gal UT Cesare tran ca oe 18V¥2—1903 
bY OL Keener ee rae eet Ace Ree 1903—1920 d 
STALVICW Ty een let Le rae) ak 1909—1913 
WStLCE peepee tome crn: UD Dem SLraAsbU LOT a esee ee 1877—1884 
Lowermbranktordgee ee eee 1884—1887 
Dickinson eer ae eee 1887—1888 
Riverton sree ta ae ee 1895—1898 
POI CCL Ose Gra teen) eit Getlysburoma so eee ye ae 1891—1896 
Gettysburg Colleges... 3.55. ace. 1909—1914 
Kametelterahee sl ie GICENnCastiG mea eh ere 1872—1895 
TY OV KERR EAD Pree eet ene 7 1899—1903 d 
PCIe CUM V et a eee ees [DiCKINSONneaa ee eee ce thee aoe 1849—1852 
SHI Dewees Gre Weerree e = TSCIM AS LEM wy. ere meets te eer: 1916—1919 
Poller Jee Cantey, te ea ess GlensRiock een aS hae ee 1867—1877 
Dlanoveresteiviatthew.Se.oy..) - 1877-1906 
—1907 d 
ECOOMS Clots rate ae ten. Hanover (Gettysburg).......... 1866—1869 d 
SOD De Wire eres tat Sa des ee McConnellsburg, St. Thomas... .1845—1850 
INewe Kingstone ear. er te Vee 8 1858—1865 
| BN Ried Bey lngy 2a Ae eg Arendtsy lege. ee eee ke 1887—1923 
Gretlysburgie en. ss eke atresia 1923— 


ISN GLbG Aa yol Ghd BE, See ae Gettysburg, Theo. Seminary... .1834—1867 d 


140 History or Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 
Kroh SHi@he tase eee Krentz, Greekict eg soen, eh eee 1889—1891 
CGhambersburggoecond..<.25 2. 1891—1895 
Krowt4J 5D oo ye Krell (za Gree koa i, mec w eas ea 1906—1909 
Rul tH AB eee @arlisiesSeconG-4vi te a eset 1864—1868 
Joa hn anise ae eee ee Gettysburg, Theo. Seminary... .1903—1916 
POU gas PUN OS seeeae ea eee ee 1920—1922 
Gettysburg spectre ee vec ee 1922— 
FOU Da VW ec ee Chambersburg, Trinity..... 7... 1913-— 
Kunkel oC eee Fayetteville, Greenvillage....... 1840—1845 
Greencastle (Supply jan ome sees -1849—1855 
SELASDILGO: ae a eeee tt ean eee ee 1850—1854 
Kunkelmanm ea <a a GbambersDurce nil sta meek ran 1866—1868 
‘ Glam bersDULs siseCONds sew een 1881—1885 


Leatherman, G2eG son 
Leeser,. Jarl 
VehnieJevlt 


Leisenring, E. H 
Pershen ails ee oe eee 
Lentart’ hae.) eee ere 


Leonard.) Gate vane eee 
Lentz, A. W 
Lehitze2l) Ysa at sees 


Lerch) 2) aioe een ee eee 
Letterman biveA ea 


_New Franklin 


Chambersburg, First 
MeConnellsburg.. 
Lebanon.. 
Wrightsv ille. 


L 


New Chester 
Littlestown, St. Paul’s 


Mercersburg, Stsphomasas 


Littlestown, St. John’s. 
West Fairview 


ns: Tel ié\ oe, 16° 0! Mee, we 


York, St. James’ 


Newville, St. Paul’s 
Greenvillage 
Dickinson 


Slower ran ktord meee 


Upper Strasburg, Orrstow 


CI O) GitcmGeC OF al Gi Gn!) 


Windsor? ark anaes 
Wiriohtsvilleeee ses eee 


1831-—1833 
1888—1890 


snl od0 1 S05 


© ie st tenis! te 


Sy [evejs ie, (ot 16 


Ce Om Cpe 


n 


1894—1901 


1873—1875 
1875-21877 


» - L852—-1853 
ep LO0S. toa. 


1917-1923 


Koreut7s Cree ktarenenn © ye eee eee 1900—1904 
WES PRIVES CLIN Seen ohn are 1909—1913 
Littlestown, St. John’s..........1911—1922 
Dallastow lepers earn ere 1902—1904 
Y Or ke Gouin (yi ao aeee te ent aan eee 1833—1835 
IN@WaQxtord: ae «eae ri ee 1903—1910 
NewvilleeZicnt saan a wiee its 1910—1914 
NLEMOV Caen eenn te oe ea ae 1903—1906 
Quickels’ Charce mms (mre 1885—1890 
Dickinson ee be ee 1923—1924 
New? Cumberland teat) ee ee al OA 

Chambersburg ah irs... 45 eee 1890—1907 
Upper Bermudian «0 eee 1904—1907 
Manchester peste Settee ee, 1880—1882 
Dallastowitty. gee ase. ae eset eee 1882—1886 
Se NIGUEL dee Be 1890—1898 


1899—1902 
1903—1904 
1903-—1907/ 
1887—1889 
1887—1894 
1891-13593 
1884—1885 
1880—1881 
1889—1891 


TSA WWW ee er ee eee SY. OTK S*ALO Taal aren) = ieee eee 1855—1897 
Lin die See eae) eek a eae Fayetteville a utd nes Ei toe ae 1924— 
Lingle, Se Wah ee eh Se eel ae Wes Ci aire a ei sinh eeeaon wee 1884—1886 
Lin eo ear ere een: Dickinson pacme ue pea eee wees 1853—1855 
Little, Hee ks Rafe ey eset od New Chestee: yaseti ts cee ete 1924— 
Livingston, GAAS oy, he DeDaRO MEN i aig eth enorene rte ta 1901—1904 
WiINCUSOL i ait Kee ane ee ere 1904—1913 
Y Or k. (Gra Cette ee ee ee ee 1907—1913 
SLAIVICW. crib OS a na ee 1915—1922 


HOMME ee tale, 


Teen ee : 


oF ak sand 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 141 














LPN SLO Dre teabe «2 chess LeDanoline mel ito a's os alas 1886—1890 
YVOrke pela tksg ee. sees eaves 9s 1890— 
PS Stolle Pan #54 f5pc2s SNOW RII COlL tered ils «ola es oo ewas 1916—1917 
VWELCULLS V1) Coeeenpiemene.s. ter btn, 1917—1920 
POGIUt alle REL es fe) Ay er INewWe Cin OS LON ta tet ane owe 1825—1827 
WY OG Gist genuw ceca bts ay. 2 eekeee. 1836—1880 
Ouic leis Oi ee hor the oh ee 1848—1858 
1D dhe sal Rc) ee en Arend tsvillemeranetee te Gar as 1873—1877 
Longanecker,"A..Ri3. 22. DillSburcsataboriee Sek © ae. une 1899 —1902 
TUrindlegGprin Caceres ae eat 1920— 
M 
Viacom Sieaey cit 0) ie hii as Chantbersbiyoebirsta. 42-1) 1868—1869 
Ila ng eSerr s e es SDFEWSDUT Ve erent ten cues 1878—1881 
‘ Le banOn ie ere. er ea 1894—-1899 
Cree rie laa eae tctes io t iehut a mane 1899—1902 
IN AOC a him Lime wera. Eemowne see) apces ota 1913—1917 
(Chap lative, see pte le aoe. 1917— 
MENTE Ab delet Ope ae Mos IManiChesteraeeetsn ea eee eae 1923=—— 
VLAN Teg SrA Gt, poe teats: IMErCelSDUl Omen fees ne: 1890—1898 
Littlesto wines ts Onn sass ae LOU =1 903 
INTaT Keyra o.t.2 che SE ave tev illentees wa. Ce ties os 191521907 
CGhaplalieaceaeyat et ay tae ee 1917— 
IVE ATU ie tee ok fe bw. a ey OTH Z1Oli eee ie, A eee 1851—1855 
NDAD CIN ae LSS A Caner oe JWR Teed.oMm eee ca eons ah 1905—1912 
Pd el | Vi aan ete tf Boge te oe 1912—1917 
INewe Crimiberlance aay ai uae 1917—1921 
DOTS GTACCuena 5 ob oe 1921— 
INT Er Ties) Aeere Rs rbakrrs STECNCA Stew trie eet c rhs caren 1837—1839 
IMenvs; Ghies teteurwaree fos eke 88, 1856—1859 
IVI UGE re etn 3 hele. IV tilly ete tae ee 29222-1094 
INUeISelnetwd ex cer ne cs ¢ INGws OST OCC wee weyerwe ten Ad 1822—1 828 
US eh 8 be LA Way gig Ar uloyah. etre dee heen ower | ar gt 1860—1874 
Shrew sDUryoR a aeee ie eee 1874—1878 
NiGUZ Cele eA wr eaeeee a wale CSLVianleliniagenien tea aa: 1882—1908 
Mts Garin el Mpeirigee cn Masten? Aes: 1908—1909 d 
WICEZ DCT w) sole ies it okt Uppenutran tio rcigae sey .cste sant 1891—1903 
NI CUIZOCT Wen) let ese ills Dur Oepanee peewee aes aae eae 1891—1899 
Nlet Zier WN es 2) etc t Littlestowiiee pier eters a 1875—1888 
MEN on als det Oe eee anes Krent7egreek eee, kp en eres 1904—1906 
INIT GeRWir, satis oes Wirigh towill omeewreaed cee cae a oe 1907—1917 
INGLE Peg A Rt 13 Oesh ek) deere ts INewa tran klineesenias ee 1906—1908 
IWreu tz, Creek ew mere ce 1910—1912 
PVA Cts H eee aut yeh Te SDTEWS DUG Veem ewes cock an ene 1881—1894 
IVE ere Gren Eo rae i tes nee ks Bivlenville weaver & ooo) oe, ater ee 1924—1925 
Niercersburg series Le te ae 1925— 
INT ere de Cet oe,, hac es oo ShippenSDureeerne sie ny oa. —1829 
Viger eee eA. Las homas eNewerrankliniia= fe 1866—1869 
ATEN (LUGS IL em emp me mee e wtnat fi Oe: 1860—1866 
INNA AUR. SS Sn Bi dee gli MeConnelishuregese 25 ais 1922— 
NEM ENICTen Sh) tara a, ciate s INewalranklin seem es tongs 8 abe 1909—1910 
Nitniek mW Pots. ons VIC Os ee mee tence APs enc g.t cr 1893—1908 
EVITI LCT Aree eaghe sect sah FVLOSSvil Leeann ee th ee See 1878—1881 
IBY) RIS Wo 20) SCR te ee ING wel Tan ree tae ee ee ie —1829 
INorLensel les Gon ass as Weésttairiientenuess be eileea. 1924— 
IWLOLETI MI AW fe. ec. NUE Oalelllkin ch coe Se eS ae 1897—1901 
PV LOM TL Zot SN Lente Whig noe at. NiORKGS DTI Oe ener oh ae ee a © 1922— 
In Replat AE +: USSU CE eta A INI CEES err tee ee eee keener ooh 1921— 
IV TUTE RASS CNet Behtatecrr se Sse STI; Gil One errete ee te ee cme 1914— 





14? History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ViuniGrdAGaesey eee Littlestown; StuJohnis. >. . e907 ia 
Viva a, ) Cle eee Doverss alent Get ons teats 1890—1895 
IMiyerss Lae DIV ea ee CAetIrOC Kaas Jet Mier. wee wimoten ae 1918— 
Mc 
McGarney, Gs Ea ate ee eh astern. yak eam eon rene 1913—1917 
Mc Garney,: Jia Cc bene ane AY OF KGL TA Ven ee atrel rte ere. 1904—1907 
Quickel’sts h.Wes oie ch ee) re 
McGaughey tin Gee Nie GonnellsbUrosse one 1891—1894 
Mchenry ta eee ee MeConnellsburesn i tex2y et ee 1854—1859 
St. Thomas, New Franklin...... 1859—1866 
West -Halrviewe. 5. atgece phe enue 1881—1882 
Quincy area eee eee AS. see 1888—1889 
IVIGKCnT ONT EING\WVicee re INewvViuUlley 210 eta e eee e 1867—1870 
NMeaucil ines tae ne eee Wrighisvilleiee ees a yee we eee 1864—1866 
NVicSirerr ye: Cra Wrcre oe Benders wile ees cn, ee 1883—1890 
Boiling Springs: see... 2 eee 1898—1903 
N 
Nashald#h) Ps G. qs ons Carlisle BSCCON Cs er teateana meet 1854—1857 
INICebyas Gee eee area Sete INewvillemZiontran se ae 1905—1908 
HanoversStsgy alls sae ee ee 1912—1925 
Nichole Weber. cos wae Uppers trasbutro 23h © eee 1905—1907 
New: Ghesterni ae tains eae 1914—1917 
Sylwan sees see el kn creer 1917—1919 
INicholast J Gens) ween Chambersburosshirsts te 1915—1918 
Ghia plainseere se: AY LAS a eae: AO 1918— 
INicholaste ahaa atau West Fairview oe a0) aoe 1890—1896 
Niedécker*. atu 05. 2) cae Chambersburgessecond aes ei 1875—1876 
NitterauerG.N2om 2s New Kingstone creer ae 1854—1858 
IN GILES Wie eal eee Manchesterayeee eat oto eee 1905—1907 
O 
Oi cermivictees ae ee eae York, Sec. Home Missions...... 1870—1871 
OTAVIN er eee Mechanicsburg, Trindle Springs. 1875—1895 d 
OT Wide tiles ee ae gee ee Abbottstown, New Oxford...... 1878—1884 
Osterlohye J ery an. os wee YOKE COUN by eee eee ee 1829—1835 
Oswaldy Jonathans-3. sway Ole Cli pis crenata 1828—1836 
Yorks te baul:c ee ae eeae ee 1836—1862 
Kreite Creekit sais cckcee artes 1862—1875 
Oswald aoe 2 era VOLK etek Aaa MR as si errers Me 1840—1876 d 
Owens A Wee aun Stouchstowne a -ees a0 eee et 1864—1866 
2 
Parker .GrGre- nee oe eee Coldtsprings mane ae rAd eee 1910—1911 
Parr aA MARIE oe oe DIS CLO. C7 ener ee ee 1890—1905 
BarsOl sts Hae ae ea ee EUTIN legs DIGS aye eee ee 1902—1908 
Parsons Gavan oh ee TLanover a teevlarkssants 2 dae eee 1868—1875 
P eberses Wer lel eee aris 2 eres Chanceford ayer ie eee tee 1920—1923 
Petermanah.. 2.5.10 PV LCCON DELS UT tates ee eee 1912—1916 
Pfahlen Nil ioe. ace eS DET RVs Wares a een ee See 1865—1867 
POIT oe Wate einer eee Mancheostengestteg) 00 t .ees 1882—1892 
—1912 d 
POtts As Oregon INewabrankdint. ets ener 1911—1919 
Pritchardanl eG.) see Mechanics buro hugh 2. aan ate 1868—1871 





Probst. | soca at tae re ee Gettvsburgue.ti ae eee eee Ae 1870—1875 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 143 


R 
Reel) Vestweewsee gc i fo é.5.0s Wirightsvillenpeerme cn ceo. ok 1858—1860 
NewsU hesterze eens oe ae, 1860—1866 
Preeactimisseny G4, 4, etalk New wiHewzion ew ntss 22) ee aie. Po 
ee Chay peer ee ia betes § (STEGREASUICMANIM en Br Lita en ae 1833—1835 
PVG CCAV MW Aletsc cscs sie oe Vi tealtollypeten ee rat 3 oe 1901—1908 
Hlanoveresteraul swear ie hee 1908—1924 
RCC St pV Vets Oe. cys lakes Gua WV OFS DIN Goer te meets criaat. 2 fy: 1889—1899 
Bayete villeeen mew ara, tach aa 1905—1914 
Peel oiard ees, 6. r soe S CACAO OG sre wee teeter sd, agit ames 1904—1907 
BROUIT UZ SL tare 8 nk iNew Chester qiemete} s+. eee, 1880—1882 
Repass, TN pee: INTER CETSDUTO( me mira nen ne een: 1918—1924 
Rhoades, Gren saree oe Ghambersburda seconds... nF ae 1864—1871 
Rhodes, CAWayeetce ip pers rag Ur oei ar: sme ee 1884—1889 
(EROS, AY EA ae een eae Wirightsyill eee ce ht, ethan 1866—1867 
Bendersville? eyeerea a 1890—1894 
ISA Koee So ieal BE 6 Bap a A LCCTHO VG ert ee elt acca etal nalye 1907—1912 
Richard, Bib pene Chambersburg, Second. ........ 1924— 
Rightmey Sit: AOS eae eae ae INI eCRANICS DUT Supe ane epee Sie ee 1856—1861 
O UIT CVE ree a Pie ters to) bee cate 1874— 
XI eel woe once ae Gettysburg, College............1911—1912 
BAT ber ea (om leet cn ae le Havyellevilles et ces het. ae 1894—1896 
Lear eld tenes Peed sean Ges nee eran! 1903—1909 
YOTIMES Um eleiage eam tonne oe 10 1916 
Leh 4 4 Bh On yh ee ree MIOLKer > DATOS eine ews Bae 1925— 
EOD mnt: Western ets, IN we Kan cst Onmemnin ten tcc ioe 1912—1916 
Romig, IVER SS ee se ge ke ahs AS ING WELTan KILI sa grt te ok ce 1894—1898 
Wig nchestenh wee once 1902—1904 
BrOsCU DOL Ow Jens meee s eal a DICK inSO ree tes, ree ee 1843—1852 
POcenimilleme.) | Daria see ren CV Lame ZO ae neue te eo ctf ol: 1832—1840 
Hanover, and St. John’s 
Lattleslowiners a tes a 1851—1856 
DOU MCTEIA Weenie. vee. a) ATEN tsvilleteveaee eee ee eh 1851—1858 
Mercersburg, Loudon, 
McConnellsburg eS ke eee): 1859—1862 
Chamibersb urge: seen se se eae ree 1883—1899 d 
TEWO 18}, 0 )el Ot ao ee lin, Sear pilvertia Unseen ns ey Oe ae 1881—1883 
Chambersburgebitst. es a) 1908—1915 d 
POUL OCK Hotell rs ie mk an S Ca Thom a seraeeeee aces Beet 1835—1836 
WicConnellshUrd geen tee es 1835—1837 
VOW Cope La treba atl: IndieyaViissionaryer: Saar ee 1873—1882 d 
ee Lue Creme #h yas. sk Lanoverss tlViatthew Se 44 a.) 1905—1906 
3 an NO) Mey ied MOE Scr, a Acorelnios wine SAN 
LAGEKG FECTM NAY Dood Bhs ieee ee Upper Frankiordsyees 4.55 cee 1921—1923 
URCLOUD ee uae A tots tee est ee | ORTHO VILCe Mee ee oy th 1912—1913 
Picuuid iseiiewnwe. tae CreLbysburg este) anes a see 1832—1836 
Ves GV an Gli eras eee ern eee 1843—1845 
Wirt ots vill Caeeanenetmeets ¢ yen ee 1856—1858 


Littlestown, St. John’s..........1857—1858 
—1859 d 


Puen rauiey Ohno 8s. 4..,: Greencastle eveas we wees os See 1825—1833 
Stor Oma sae Aer gree eee hs ee 1830—1833 
Ruthrauissonathan...... Hanover, Abbottstown, 
Lattlestown mae ee 1825—1836 
Newe Oxtord ee eres ae 1829—1836 
S 


SVMs GIS g ELS A ee Shin Dens DULL meen ae ee ee 1849—1852 


144 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 
Sahinis Pike ehes te diene aeee S We CNOMAS sci cece tae eee 1837—1840 
Greencastle, New Franklin...... 1840—1845 
Salemasls. Gi tks s aes ee BUC OLOLC. gis aterts ite tea eee 1899—1903 
SEMseaniog NN a YOLK, UVESsial Pretoria ae eee a 1923— 
Sanders! abies Gettysburg, College.....:......1923— 
Scliseiters’ Cath a peer eC AL iis lea bran kT Orcas. reer a 1830—1834 
Gettysburg, St. Paul’s 
(German) acting pastor...... 1859—1865 
Schantze) Eitik..s ep eke ete OGRLUPCCCLOL 2: ay ee oer eee a 1895—1904 
SchereraiMeGs Gree Ale! Ue LLOL Vawter tp oes a oe ae 1890—1893 
Schérer2 Wee heves yele Lait Ore tee ae eet eh ee 1887—1902 
Scheurer 12a ae 7A DDOLES LOND. 5 ie eater eee enone Ne 1839—1842 
SCONGACNUTCH AM mene he kien 1848—1872 
Hanover, New Oxford..........1849—1850 
ScHinGle: CoN. ee Dallastow nae ete en tee 1913—1915 
Schindler) # test ate ae FlanGverm@o.ceNVlarkis coed. wee 1876—1883 
ETAT O Vek DGC aeeen ee 1890—1893 
Schlager’ GaVis s: 5) aa Catlislos Second marr.» ...1861—1862 
SChmic 4 Geren eee Carlislesssecond aeca. v4 neat 1875—1876 
SCUAIG Ue ies Caner n eee CGarlislew eCOld eat. eon ht cme ee 1869—1870 
SCHINUCK Che aiCy mae eee AOL Ky CULS ba eemeranrer ee tn 1825—1836 
Quickelisny eer re ea Aas See 1842—1852 


SCOMUCKCEsS 1) sae 


Scholl, G 


SCHOCK ey WOR ete ee, 


Schoppe, aro: 
schultz= Wire 
Schulze, W 


Cre! wt te 


schwankoosky, Coa. saa. 
Schwartz, 1) aera ease eaes 


SCOUEMVVRnLD ones 


Claw ad 


SeGriste: oa eee 


Seidel, W. C 
Seifert,-H 


Sell, A 


Settlemyer, W. H 
sharp bla. 


shatto, Mey 


heaters Gb aeee ween 


<4 


Shearer, T. E:... 
Sheeder, B. R. M 


ePet ce) fat tell ie) 6 i pelt cevg wife ne ore: 


TPE OM BO g 
et Vehieh on ie etre) .'6: 


Sechristi (ae \\ee tea 


ito! 6: (6. re) fe mel omiswep e. © 
#58) set se 8 se, 4) Joy ei tw 


© (0 os, ena (OM wr L@ yel 6) eh © fe) eke! ie 


Sharp svt ees 


one) (0) wl «yee 


Gettysburg, Theo. Seminary. . 


. .1826—1864 


—1873 
Panoverrote ack se ete eee 1884—1887 
Secy. Foreign Mission Board... .1887—1923 
Cham bersbures its tae) eee 1850—1852 
Garlisles Secoird fe. a eee 1868—1869 
Upper ptrasburomere. cet eae 1925— 
NeConnellsburciepe as ae ee 1825—1832 
(Chambersburg second an eines 1851—1852 
WestManh Girne eres 1845—1848 
Bendersvilleyaeen i eee 1916—1923 
Getty sbur oases ea te cena 1923— 
Streasbureeeeiee iy seo) ae ee ees 1835—1838 
> Chan CelorCitesre ee re eee ee 1904—1912 
Sylvan Miele ries eerie te 1912—1914 
JoWirightsvilleaeaeee cee ee 1872—1875 
KrentziG recline ne ee eee 1875—1889 
Mublen berg eee 1891—1892 
Westaltarnviewtie 1. al. wae 1888—1890 
Carlisle, Second..........,.....1890—1895 
Ross willeast i ieee eee ee 1869—1871 
—1905 
Dillsburg aes ue ae a eee ar 1876—1887 
ColdesS prin Oster ener eee 1912—1916 
Gold Springsegee vara eae 1904—1909 
Rossville seme Sey mee eee 1851—1853 
Dillsburg Wireless eee ee 1872—1873 
INew IAIN oSston meine ee eee 1873—1875 
INew* Ghesterdi..0.) ®t oe 1875—1879 
EB etl ng ite eae ie, eee 1880—1887 
Paradise; Chiicu Church an ee 1881—1888 
Upper:Bermudian: . 3), eben 1896—1899 
Wiechanicsburg tine sate eee 1912—1920 
Enola sie putes oie rags ot kee 1910— 
Dallastown, 20s sn yes et eee 1889—1892 
aN ew In gstons. ce oe ee 1871—1873 
Trindle: Springsse.2 aa. aaa ee 1911—1913 


FLIINCIEG SS OT OS aim aren cre eee renee 1900—1902 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 


SO COUGL ln Mie ras Bie Se ee Wppen.Bemniicians orate 
Siiverbivome Grettysburg.1. 20 
SL LEN cd God Does eee WestVianhelmi ie weve ss ois. 
New: Oxi Onder manta = aoe scale ae 
Satie tee | baa aes noi DD CRED EeaSDUl Orem: thea tak 
St..Thomas, New Franklin... ... 
PeniglViat ee: bt seer eae esc ccd oe 
SSIIEC GCs bd Mel eee cece te INewelingetonsereenatra ice on 
Si GIO s LOL er amare New. Chesterwaaiican, comet. who. 
Shracder, habs)... a8... Chanibersburg second: a4: 
SS TULL (ed kL eeneee ee Ree oo) Chancel ord avenger sons 2 ae 
[ee Dan Olibaer net eat ae 
Goldsborowvite 7100 ee, ee 
AD PeLLR ranki OL eae kt, 
SAAR) bey Mop eerie ab Awe Getlysbur sare nea. See 
STC Rk Oo See ey Ee St. Thomas, New Franklin...... 
LOM Oller cece nies ae ae aye levilleveer se een 
BRM SOD gra Wace sie eke Ca Dla eeep ewes pale eee ety 
SENG eer el encay . oeuaae NOW RESIN OS LOU eye re ae ene nate 
Sliema Wreath Sons Wp pemberniudinn wae ae. 
Dpperstran kiordener anche! 
SUSU GMAS. Leese ne: wane |< 
SUE LUU Lm LO rien ys Drew ot ng: Shippensburg, Strasburg........ 
SU aD OM AG teen eek er enero © 
CITEGENCASL LCi recat sk en cae 
Cham bersbur sen sage sere 
See Vie ee weet a DDE TANKIO‘G. went. prot aes 
ING Wel reeGdOnvas. hea ce tec yt 
DOA Re oe TiOsey lene emer a Rea nen tae 
SHUG SSS OD, es aeeee! Upper Bermudian, Idaville...... 
Sy Ler ee VVNE rk, Re ates log bl OTIS Aemeee heir a ths Ke es 
IMercers hte Meese eters ace! cnt ege 
SOIPPeNnsHUlO. we wae cone ere. 
Sa NCLED AVI fo, tes phim Wewel rankings ta, er ete ae 
SHWETA oe le ere haa Upper Strasburg, Orrstown...... 
SUV OCI MVE e es ter ae SULASDUTE yas eisaceere eae Teale 
Arend is Villegas Meee. 
Abbottstown, New Oxford...... 
DO Cheri a bern! eet AVLISSLONOTY., LNG laveer ty eee a et 
(Olds DOr mV lie 7101 weer ee 
Spangler WaiVit: .af vo. SEVEN alle ysaue ere ke ee 
Ce maWRt Gas hoe sree: OUINC Vanes on ia nee Cnet 
SP LCCHOI Ge ie pa ictera: Chambersburcmbirstss sae te oe 
SPrecler oul ewan tr Garlisle Ser ee, me vate ca. eile da 
Stahler, W. E.. e_OUIPPensDUTS. eee io seen ess 
SLALE MENG ont Sek eer ts oy oper Pranktordaevr. sae. 
Kreutz: ree tame an treet ciate eee 
DIGKinsOnee eee ie a ee 
Goldsboro," York Haven..¥% 2... 
DtauilerableAS. 1 eeu es Chambersburg. secondass a... - 
SH AUTLC IAM ae Cry nica eect ee TT OOLN st Ila bee Lanes Pee ans ek, 
VIAN CheS tei ee are ent at ee 
Work blaventteseer ten ore ck 
INewe Chester sherbet ene 
Starcy léw si wee eared See 
Siconersliy.Gr nto. YY OLR CLOWN ye cae te ok ko eeeaen 


14 


1881—1884 
1884—1896 
1915—1917 
1920-3 
1869—1872 
1872—1884 
1905—19038 
—1912 
1899-1905 
1885>=—13895 
18s9s——1901 
1912-1919 
NS RS PA 
1921—1922 
1923—1924 
LSID LOLS 
TOD Dee OOo 
1910-1923 
LOO 
1877-1881 
1894—1896 
1903—1911 
LOL 1— 
1839—1842 
1843—1846 
1845—1846 
1846—1850 
1912191) 
UP ea 
1890—1894 
1911—1914 
1900-19 UL 
ISL Lolo 
1915—1918 
1889-—1891 
1895-1903 
1860—1866 
1866—1873 
1575-1317 
1902 
1910—1924 
1925— 
1907—1910 
130921005 
1843—1849 
1865—1868 
1887—1894 
1888—1891 
1892—1897 
1907—1915 
1917—1919 
1911—1914 
1904—1908 
1908—1912 
1914—1917 
1918—1921 
1922—— 
—1831 


d 


146 


History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Steciks pA Ta aan ee 


sternal, Fe 
Sterner, 


Stock SCoiVisrns x. 


SECC oat as 
Stockslager, E 
Stoever, 


Stroh, M. I 


CAEe es tis 


pGettysburg, Siw aes aes | oe 1894—1903 
MOrkK« LIN LOn Be Wi come eee 1903—1914 
Gaitlisl6. First? Wtaowhy nag a2 ees 1914— 
1 ery Gettysburg, St. James’... ......1875—1881 
Shippensburg: Vinee ee Lee ee 1853—1855 
Gham bDersburg sat 16 lara eee ean 1860—1864 
rey Em ADBOtIStOWIiacaweet ae 1aue ee LO 
Ade <2 Lower Frankford.) \2p.0e! (2-6 cl OO2—. boa 
peste te Hanover, otallark’ si ee ee kn Os ie 
—1913 
esas Sulphur Springs: 47... ..«¢..:... 18641868 
Oxford sgh. 212 ae 6s eee tes 1868—1871 
pevenny alleys Maier co a ene 1874—1875 
Wie bisvillem ae ncn, <5) jeneian 1882—1886 
Hlanoveray. Wien ea eee 1887—1900 
the alae Carlislezot) Paul Sic sees en 4 OO tees 
Mgseeken MUP JOW ON 9. 4 ee toe ee one 
Pine even Trindle Springs... 9s xs pee LOO Oe aa 
—1880 
Ra fs: Missionary, Indiaiie.: ved «cep eee 
ast Newville; Ziont)o. 2.34 ok ins O20 tae 


Shippensburg, Upper Strasburg. . 1830—1839 
Mechanicsburg, New Kingston. .1839—1846 


Nee MEP Trindle;Sprimgs ia) « eee -1829—1830 
Jee Carlisle, Second.....:..........1860—1862 
iets eiett Dillsburgeie] wines Seis ee LO iA ine 





G. 


Pigs i eg nae orca te gt 


Ra SEAS Sa Ne 
> bt 





. S. Hartman, President. 


W:. -Goodliny DoD? Cora sec. He Miss: 
A. Gotwald, D.D., President Bd. Home Miss 


. L. Baugher, D. D., Editor S. S. Literature. 
. J. Woif, D. D., Prof. Theological Seminary. 


C. Koller, Member Bd. Home Miss. 


A. W. Rallye President Ch. Ext. 
ie Tot hteen Dab: 89. A. D. Rowe, Missionary to India. 
iWGilikere 1D). 1D), Died during Convention. 
W. Tressler Ae) eA S DEY 
Saweweea,. 10), 1D AME 10), (Cy Ukeyedn 
W. Enders A Deere ee) Sie ee) ee Ds 
J. Metzler 43. C. J. Deininger 
» Ie Culler 44, H. Seifert 
Klinefelter AD se lee Williams 
Ort 46. M. Snyder 
Daron Al he SeCrist 
D. Weigle, Secretary 48. M. J. Alleman 
Breidenbaugh, Treasurer 49. D. M. Blackwelder 
. C. Holloway 50.) JH) Re) Fleck 
Jellaverws) a> 51. B. F. Alleman 
Stock SP lg) 1B, Wika 
Anstadt 53. J. W. Breitenbach 
. L. Heisler 54, SS. WAL Diehl! 
P.° Orwig 5s De Schindlers Dea DD. 
Sell 56, Ay H: Shertz 
Sheeder Bie A Srbaraye) 
Conoway 58. W. F. Rentz 
G. Fastnacht 59. J. Forthman 
J. Watkins 60. E. Lenhart 
Kistler 61. W. Keckler 
. A. Letterman 62. J. A. Metzger 
T. Williams Gay, 1b, 1B, AVON hE 
Seeds 64. C. E. Keller 
J. Hesson 65. J. W. McSherry 
E. Honeycutt 66. M. D. Gaver 
H.Ketterman 67. E. Felton 
W. Slaybaugh 68. .J. A. Sterner 


d 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 147 






ath Mt orbs og? 
FIPPY- RIGHTS ANNUAL CONVENTION Of The 
WE BST sic. ey, Loe Seb ee 
Convened at Liitlestown, Pa, 











(See names on opposite page) 


148 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


# 
CHIN pA Jeger eos eee KOssvillé.oy 73 ee eee 1881—1883 
NOL Ka PIEIOS.bid 4 epee ee 1883—1885 
(DUICR ELS. s cade host ae eee 1890—1922 
SUNDAY, | Wall) oe ayia DelsOUCd S> et On Cee ame 1919—1922 
SULEOD Wes). eee eae: COTCO UAT AIL cence ee ite at ae 1917—1921 
Or GAUSSDULC were a fy Ae ee 1917—1921 
POssvillegs lips shims er ree chs 1925— 
Waltz, o) one 0 eee Cathislesre oe atc ga ate eee 1868—1871 
Gettysburg, St. James’.........1881—1894 
Swope.) lee ee eee Dickinson: ih cate eee 1877—1881 
SWOODG). WV alee Ganippiiil) seers eae eee eee 1924— 
; ae 
“Cholants 3 hee tt ce eee Biglerville Ween Aer eewene ae at 1918—1924 
‘Thomas, Ate oe oe U Diels bermudiantee see tener 1877—1881 
se HOMAS wig ee eee LY OT Kt Ga CLC Sse eee ae 1892—1903 
Boilingesprimgeve.e e e e 1910—1914 
Chambersburs,-sécond: 4.8 1914—1918 
Boiling prin see wees ee ae 1923— 
sL-HOLD A) 8 Vien eee en ene Carlisles see) hata. eee eee 1845—1848 
ELIE US Wal eat cw ean tree Stoughstowni- week ce ee 1855—1856 
CPOMCIS MSs ee ne eee Tlanover, otelViark’s eae eee 1925— 
Omi nsOn we eeareee eee Abbottstown, New Oxford...... 1884—1892 
BLTAD Wi ce ee a ee ee VOrks Gris tyes. (anne eee 1922— 
rei bley a) asa ne ING welingStOngees see rae 1918— 
LUressler Js ee tere ee Wiestgh alr viewer ne. eee 1877—1880 
Goldsboro:2ea ae a een 1880—1883 
roster eee. eee DY] Van eet non ae nae 1891—1893 
New Kingstone eee. ee 1906—1907 
sLEOSULC FOL SAV s Cee es, Dillsburg weir ver cree 1907—1913 
Upper Bermudian: st). vrs ae 1925— 
U 
Wich sees er. eee INewiGhesterias:..t cae arene eee 1843—1852 
Ulrich’ Jee ta tase Carlisle: sherem cae eigenen ee 1834—1842 
YOLK SDIINGS ae ey ee ee 1842—1855 
SHIPPENSDULSs ee, meee | ere 1855—1859 
Frankford & Sulpher Springs. . . .1859—1862 
Ulich eS Si yaaa Dickinsonegs aye ee 1894—1896 
Lebanonyg seu, re ene ee 1900—1901 
V 
VianO rider ee vet ionel> eee SHIPPeOSDUIg. eee ee eee 1909s oie 
W 
Wagner, eAGHe eee ee ee GrCllysDUroeG.0 01s eee oan eee 1913— 
Wagner Pi) 422 ee ee VOLK (GTACE serey ane e Me ee 1918—1920 
Wagner, R&S er oe ee ON Claret <1OLO ree ities «acre ee 1922— 
Walters Gi. me new Wonk cstehadlcom eee oe anes 1898— 
WaarnermAviN vere chase eel ISO aan ree ees Wee oe eee 1864—1868 
Manchester, sew ii ane eet ne 1868—1871 
allastowi ae ee eee 1871—1882 
Wea vere Cre Aue ake ee, Wirth ts valle aech rie eee 1867—1871 
Elan O Vel sist 2 ae ee en, Aten eee 1882—1887 
WedekindwAt Gene cte we New lt ranklint= see ene 1849—1850 
Bayettevilles# ts: beck ee ee eae —1849 


Weeter 0 Wh aiee et cet New Kin Sstone qe eee 1905—1907 


PASTORS AND PASTORATES 149 


Wy la) FORA bred, og ec ee TOSS vlan arene haart. 1837—1841 
Grettyobure mere sae. cn red ee 1841—1857 d 
DVI OO gth el) Nokes wc. ota te rtilestoviiees teal Steen ee 1877—1887 
Mechanicsuulom tite pas tee ee 1896—1912 
COT tial LE, Coenen. aac e cen ae 1912—1923 d 
PN CLIN Gl al eg eet atk ie cas, 7 LC UN O ements Seer tales Shen te, 1917—1919 
BOUNCES Pros ees ee te ee 1919—1920 
DNCISCl es Liman fate sc, nie ait. SUSCNONIAS weer eat ete sa tee 1833—1835 
Mercersburg, McConnellsburg.. . 1832—1834 
RVGM LOW red ees her ad hen: Strasbuce ms Di¢kinson..c 46 1856—1858 
NV CV Unite ens eer e LOLLY SDULE 55 LJ AOS 7 dean, 1830—1832 
York Springs, New Chester..... 1839—1842 
WITeLStONe Ae VV obras VLCLCELGDUTO Mier nue nies 1864—1871 
Wie wCniGs. eer Dam bersbureeUrinity a ieee 1900—1909 
Vem SE aereee secranc hs Carlisl erat. ser ae, oc tear eee 1885—1899 d 
Wy Lesies Comb eeniaas feo. 2 Bate ELOSSvillecey seat, eaten eee nee: 1896—1901 
Viol LE Nive Ka eh, My) Ala Wat OA West ivi annette renner ne 1842—1843 
NCOLKS SD GIN OS we weean eee ee tin lear 1855—1860 
VETTE ATIS we) oie lace) eee, on Shippensburg, Strasburg........1843—1849 
EY OL Gt ye hk tere ote tase ens 1878—1883 d 
Walliatiow lowe lwered whet New. Drank iiesen eerie te ees 1846—1849 
Littlestown, St. John’s..........1870—1874 
DEVELO Gys gamete raise hth 1875—1881 d 
VET LOT Laas Lote Me spa LA OSS Vile gen ome aries) a, chee ee 1874—1876 
NicGonnellsb rca teen re 1876—1880 
RWC em VVint Cntr ne net erga, LtLeStow no baled ulcer eee 1887—1892 
Littlestown, St. John’s..........1893—1897 d 
WRT ot Op A ere PA DDOULSLOW I eee ee nee nee 1846—1850 © 
News Oxford ees erie eee 1850—1852 
DWiLiCh haber meres: foe Canlislesoecondiceva.) Sains. 1885—1886 
WLULICI 8 Pony ee ane 3 Carlisle. Sec Ole eeiensrts ae 1883—1885 
VIOLA fe Cae ts hg eae ates NeConnelishuromer et a0) 1900—1906 
We aIrview rant aire ees 1906—1917 
Wie bat) erro eae 7, Gettysburg, Theo. Seminary... .1874—1895 d 
WO A BSc eigen unt eee era Glens oCki ae). mean talent 1877—1918 
1923 d 
WY Olteg GB ei are ae Seo NVIISSION ALY LU Gla, ee eee 1883—1907 
Sec. Foreign Mission Board..... 1908— 
VW DI Bos © une iceanie eae Chambersburgaseconds «aa 1861—1864 
DVOIIMIN GOs cath «op a one aheveee « SHTews DUC Vcr epee een ee mre 1907—1911 
VOLT GR eR Wen eue os mere, 86. Upper branktordieess res © 1916—1920 
MUCHO Yy at ya eter oe ee 1920—1922 
RVOLCe Dit Lm Wise eee rea WS cILVICW seeker Meee ay, 1902—1906 
ETolara tet pomseere ters.ck ret een cree. 1906—1910 
vi 
NCE el Onis Se eek Garlisles Secon diene... wn eee 1857—1859 
Dies Perens Get tas @arlisle second hes. cee eres 1862—1864 
DUO CIN OS eee Le eas: & Piano vere bavlalthewid. eee 1865—1877 
COLI OMe Plea Miers or RVI CS OY cia ae, ce iad WE ee rs 1920— 
IZ 
ENGL EAA DEE Se eee MER rLolly ce eee ees rs: 1894—1897 
Rossy lleerre en ee gen ene 1901—1903 
ATI eC Alle Ll aL aoe MeL ILIS UTS seks eee Rene. 6 eens 1903-—1905 
Dickinsqnim.s ess ara ites ee 1905—-1906 
Zimmerman, MF... ... GeltVsDUTU at peel et ae Ak a 1884—1886 d 


JANN a bys Meas ie Sane Chambersburg g second saa 4 1871—1873 


150 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD - 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 


A large part of the later history of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod was made by the useful service of ministers who are not 
at this time in charge of active pastorates. They include among 
their number some of the oldest and most honored of our clerical 
roll, and are therefore entitled to the first place in the following 
chapters of biograpbical and historical sketches. In this list of 
“Ministers without Charges” there will be found also sketches of 
some of the very active younger men who are engaged in educa- 
tional and missionary work. 


In Chapter XV the sketches are not arranged in alphabetical 
order, but in the order of seniority in the ministerial service. 
Among them are brief biographies of men that have held places 
of conspicuous usefulness, not only in the Synod but in the general 
work of the Lutheran Church in America,—Presidents and Gen- 
eral Secretaries of Home and Foreign Mission and Chureh Ex- 
tension and Educational Boards; Professors in our Theological 
Seminary and College at Gettysburg; and Missionaries actively 
engaged in the work of our Foreign Board in India. 


These sketches are necessarily autobiographical, thus insuring 
accuracy and the statement of such activities as are of most im- 
portance; but all have had more or less editorial touching up to 
accord honors that might otherwise have been modestly un- 
mentioned. 


CHAPTER XV 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 


REV. GEORGE SCHOLL, D. D. 


Rev. George Scholl, D. D., 
was born April 22nd, 1841, near 
Connersville, Indiana, being the 
next to the youngest in a family 
of ten children, of whom he is 
the only one still living. The 
names of his parents were Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Reed), whose an- 
cestors came from the Black 
Forest in Germany in the year 
1750, and settled in Schuylkill 
County, Pennsylvania. They re- 
moved to Indiana in 1833, when 
that part of the country was 
still new and comparatively un- 
improved. Quite a colony of 
relatives made the journey with 
them, the head of the under- 
taking being the grandfather of 
the subject of this sketch, John Jacob Scholl, who served in the 
war of 1812. He died in 1869 in his ninety-seventh year. 


Jacob Scholl, the father, who was born in 1804 and died in 
his ninetieth year, lived upon the same farm for sixty years. 
‘The parents were devoted members of the Lutheran Church and 
brought up their large household under the reign of law as well 
as the gospel, administering a strict discipline not unlike that of 
West Point. Daniel, the oldest son of the family, was also in 
the Lutheran ministry. He died in 1923, in Seattle, Washington, 
in his ninety-third year. These colonists from Eastern Penn- 
sylvania were really the founders of the Lutheran Church in Cen- 
tral Indiana. 


The school advantages of that day and locality were quite 
meager, being limited to two and a little later on to three months 
in the year and, at best, were of an inferior character. In view 
of this condition of things Daniel had been sent from home to 
an academy for two years, after which he served as the teacher 


151 





152 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


of the younger members of the family as well as of his parents 
who, up to that time, spoke only the German Language. 

After a course of thorough instruction in the catechism by 
the Rev. Solomon Wiles, George was confirmed at an early age 
in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Lyonsville, Indiana. Not con- 
tent with the meager and elementary training of the public schools, 
the lad at the age of fourteen was sent to a distant academy and 
afterwards to a high school where he pursued advanced studies, 
after which he enjoyed the incomparable benefit, which is the boast 
of many successful men, of teaching school for three terms. 

During the winter of 1860-61 he took a course in a com- 
mercial college in Cincinnati, Ohio, after which he was employed 
for a time in a large business house in that city. His heart was 
set on entering the legal profession and a year was spent on Black- 
stone when, to complete his preparatory course, he entered Miami 
University, Oxford, Ohio, where he acquired his first knowledge 
of Latin and Greek under the tuition of Prof. David Swing, later 
the famous preacher of Chicago. 

But the Head of the Church had planned for him another 
career and led him by unexpected paths to an institution of his 
own church. In 1864 he entered the freshman class of Witten- 
berg College, Springfield, Ohio, and four years later carried off 
the first honors of his class. His fellow students elected him as 
the debater of the Excelsior Society in their literary contest. 
His theological course under Rev. Samuel Sprecher, D. D., LL.D., 
was brief, but with such a teacher time becomes an indifferent 
factor. The impress of the learned and gifted professor was left 
on the mind of the scholar and he left the Seminary at Springfield, 
Ohio, deeply realizing that his theological studies had only been 
begun. During the latter part of his college course and while 
in the Seminary he preached fifty-seven times, being called upon 
to supply different churches within a radius of one hundred miles 
of Springfield. 

His first pastoral charge was at New Philadelphia, Ohio, an 
old congregation that had enjoyed the services of distinguished 
preachers. He began his labors here March 29th, 1869, and on 
relinquishing the same after two years and seven months left an 
active and united congregation and a handsome new church 
erected at a cost of $15,000.00 during his pastorate. 

In November, 1871, he became the first pastor of the newly 
organized Second Church in Altoona, Pa. The work was com- 
menced. with a charter membership of twenty and with a like 
number, counting officers, teachers and scholars, in the Sunday 
School. This church enterprise, though humble in its beginning, 
through the devotion and liberality of three outstanding members, 
D. K. Ramey, William Bell and J. B. Wesley, was self-sustaining 
from its beginning. The rented hall was soon outgrown and a 
large church, costing $25,000.00, was built and occupied in part 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 153 


during a pastorate of two years and nine months. It was the 
privilege of the first pastor of this church to preach the twenty- 
fifth anniversary sermon in 1896; and the rare privilege of preach- 
ing the Fiftieth Anniversary sermon in 1921 when the church 
that had grown from a membership of twenty to one thousand 
and fifteen celebrated its GOLDEN JUBILEE. 


On the removal of Dr. E. J. Wolf to the Theological Seminary 
at Gettysburg, Rev. Scholl became his successor in the Lombard 
Street Lutheran Church, Baltimore, Md., a church which had en- 
joyed the ministration of such divines as Drs. C. P. Krauth, J. 
A. Seiss, Joel Swartz and others well known throughout the church 
but which, notwithstanding the unfavorable changes in that lo- 
cality, never had a period of larger prosperity than during his 
pastorate of almost ten years,—a period longer than any to which 
his distinguished predecessors had attained. 

From Baltimore he removed to Hanover, Pa., where he was 
pastor of St. Mark’s Church for three years. About this time 
Western Maryland College conferred on him the title of Doctor 
of Divinity. During his pastorate St. Mark’s Church was re- 
dedicated after having been remodeled at a cost of over $12,000.00. 

At the meeting of the General Synod at Carthage, [linois, in 
1877, Rev. Scholl, together with other brethren in Baltimore and 
Washington, was appointed a member of the Board of Foreign 
Missions. After serving ten years as Recording Secretary the 
Board elected him as its General Secretary. He resigned the pas- 
torate of St. Mark’s Church, Hanover, Pa., and on January Ist, 
1887, took charge of all the clerical and executive work of the 
Board. During his sixteen years of service in this capacity he 
traveled from fifteen to eighteen thousand miles a year visiting 
the churches and presenting the cause of Foreign Missions. Dur- 
ing this period he represented the Board at all the Biennial Con- 
ventions of the General Synod; attended and addressed the various 
Student Volunteer Conventions in the United States and Canada; 
the annual conferences of the Boards of Foreign Missions of the 
United States and Canada, held in New York City, of which Con- 
ference he was president one session; and the World’s Ecumenical 
Conference in Carnegie Hall, New York, where he made three 
addresses. He was the editor of the foreign department of the 
MISSIONARY JOURNAL eighteen years and a frequent con- 
tributor to the church weeklies confining his productions mainly 
to foreign mission issues. 

In the summer of 1896, through the liberality of a friend, he 
was enabled to make a European tour, visiting England, Holland, 
Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and France. During his ad- 
ministration the missions in India and Africa made notable prog- 
ress. A goodly number of missionaries were sent to the field, 
the College and Woman’s Hospital in India were successfully 
launched, and for the completion of the college building he was in- 


154. History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


strumental in securing a gift of $10,000.00 from two of his former 
parishioners, Mr. Gerald 8. Watts and his son, George W. Watts. 
In 1923 he retired from the work after being in the service of the 
Board for twenty-six years. 

Owing to a serious accident, sustained while traveling in the 
interests of Foreign Missions, Dr. Scholl has been incapacitated 
for pastoral or otber work requiring physical activity. However, 
he has not been idle. For four years and four months he was 
Superintendent and Business Manager of the Franklin Square 
Hospital in Baltimore. In 1907 when Concordia Church, belong- 
ing to the Joint Synod of Ohio, became vacant he was called upon 
to supply the pulpit until a pastor could be secured. He con- 
tinued in this relation to the church for five months in which time 
the congregation severed its relation to the Joint Synod of Ohio 
and was received into the Maryland Synod. Later on he again 
supplied this church for seven months and a year later again for 
four months. 

During his so called retirement he has supplied the pulpits 
in thirty-nine different churches in Baltimore and Washington, 
besides many others in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New 
York, Ohio, and Indiana, preaching as often as thirty and forty 
and one time ninety-four times in one year. For a number of 
years he has taught a Bible Class in the First Church, Dr. E. K. 
Bell, pastor. During his eighty-third year he preached twenty- 
eight times. 

He was elected president of the Maryland Synod at its meet- 
ing in Hagerstown in 1879, and at different times represented the 
Allegheny Synod, the Maryland and that of the West Pennsyl- 
vania in the Board of Directors of the Seminary at Gettysburg. 
For forty-nine years he has been a member of the ECLECTIC 
CLUB of Baltimore, an organization that limits its membership 
to seventeen and is composed of the leading clergymen of eight 
different communtons. 


Rev. Scholl was married December Ist, 1869, to Miss Bar- 
bara Emma Barr of Springfield, Ohio, a graduate of Mt. Auburn 
Seminary, Cincinnati. This union has been blessed with four 
children, two of whom died in infancy; a son, a graduate of the 
Johns Hopkins University and Medical School and a successful 
practitioner for twelve years, who died in his thirty-ninth year; 
and a daughter, Maud Isabelle, the wife of Rev. James Cattanach, 
pastor of the Govans Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, with 
whom he has made his home since the death of Mrs. Scholl which 
occurred about eight months after the celebration of their Golden 
Wedding. He has two grandsons, graduates of the Johns Hop- 
kins University and both in the Medical Department of the same 
institution, one in the class of 1924 and the other the class of 1925. 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 155 


PROPESSORMIACOB eee CUULA.@ DieDs LisD: 


Dr. Clutz was born January 5, 
1848, near Gettysburg, Adams 
County, Pennsylvania. His par- 
ants were Henry and Hannah 
(Buffington) Clutz. He was bap- 
tized by the Rev. Solomon Sent- 
man and confirmed by the Rev. 
Levi T. Williams, both of them 
pastors in Taneytown, Maryland. 
Until he entered the ministry 
his membership was in the Mount 
Joy Lutheran church, near Get- 
tvsburg, which at that time was 
a part of the Taneytown charge. 
As a child he attended the public 
school near his home. During 
the winter of 1862-’63 he was a 
pupil in a private school in 
Taneytown conducted by ‘Mr. 
Andrew McKinney. In the fall of 1863 he entered the Prepara- 
tory Department of Pennsylvania College, and in the fall of 1865 
he entered the Freshman class in the college. During the fall of 
1864 he served four months as a soldier, having enlisted in response 
to a special call for volunteers issued at the time of the burning of 
Chambersburg by the Confederates under General McCausland. He 
eraduated from the college in 1869 and from the theological semi- 
nary at Gettysburg in 1872, his class being the first to have a full three 
years course in the seminary. He was licensed by the Maryland 
Synod in the Third Lutheran church of Baltimore in 1871, and 
was ordained by the same synod in 1872 in Trinity Lutheran 
Church, Hagerstown. 


During the summer of 1870 Mr. Clutz supplied the Luthers- 
burg charge in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. The summer 
vacation of 1871 was spent in Hagerstown, Md., in the supply of 
Trinity Lutheran church, during the illness of the pastor, Dr. T. 
T. Titus. Before the vacation closed Dr. Titus resigned to accept 
the Principalship of Hartwick Seminary, and the congregation de- 
sired Mr. Clutz to remain with them as their permanent pastor. 
He referred the matter to the synod, which declined to permit 
him to leave the seminary to accept this call. On the completion 
of his seminary course he was called to Zion Lutheran church, 
Newville, Pa., and in the fall of 1873 he took charge of St. Paul’s 
Lutheran Church of Baltimore as its first pastor. This was a 
missionary enterprise of the other Lutheran churches of the city 
and had been organized only a short time before. He served this 
church ten years. 





156 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In 1877 Mr. Clutz was a delegate to the General Synod which 
met in Carthage, Illinois. He was there appointed a member of 
the Board of Foreign Missions the location of which was trans- 
ferred at that time from New York city to Baltimore. When the 
new Board was organized Mr. Clutz was elected Corresponding 
Secretary which was then equivalent to Executive Secretary, 
though no salary was attached to the office. He filled this office 
in connection with his duties as pastor until the fall of 1883 when 
he became the General Secretary of the Board of Home Missions, 
when he resigned as secretary but remained a member of the 
Foreign Board. As secretary of the Foreign Board he took the 
initiative in the founding of the Lutheran Missionary Journal, 
and later, from 1883 to 1889, he was the editor of its Home Mission 
department. In 1873 he assisted in the organization of the 
Children’s Missionary Society which undertook the support of 
Rey. A. D. Rowe as their missionary in India. He was also the 
treasurer of the society and designed a number of the souvenir 
certificates which were given each year to those who contributed 
through it to the support of Mr. Rowe. 

At the meeting of the General Synod in 1883 the Boards of 
Home Missions and Church Extension were separated and a new 
Board of Home Missions was appointed with its headquarters at 
Baltimore. Mr. Clutz was elected to the General Secretaryship 
of this Board and accepted the office to take effect October 1. 
This necessitated his resignation as the pastor of St. Paul’s Church, 
and also as the secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions though 
he retained his membership in the latter Board until his removal 
to the west in 1889. August 1, 1889, he resigned as secretary of 
the Board of Home Missions, having been elected as the first 
president of Midland College, a new Lutheran institution which 
had been opened two years before at Atchison, Kansas, under the 
auspices of the Board of Education of the General Synod. 


At the annual commencement of the same year, 1889, the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon Mr. Clutz by his 
Alma Mater. He served as president of Midland College from 
August 1, 1889, to February 1, 1904. During this time he was 
largely instrumental in inducing the Board of Education to open 
a theological department in connection with the college in 1893 
and he assisted in arranging its curriculum. In 1895 this depart- 
ment was developed into the Western Theological Seminary. In 
addition to his duties as president of the college, Dr. Clutz served 
as professor of Homiletics and Christian Ethics in the seminary 
from 1893 to 1904. At the meeting of the General Synod in 
Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in 1891, Dr. Clutz was elected president. 
It might be added that during the last forty years of the life of 
the General Synod, Dr. Clutz attended every meeting but three, 
either as a delegate or as the official representative of one of the 
Boards or institutions of the church. 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 157 


February 1, 1904, Dr. Clutz resigned the presidency of Mid- 
land College to accept a call as pastor of St. James’ Lutheran 
Church, Gettysburg, Pa. On the death of Dr. J. W. Richard in 
the spring of 1909, he was elected to succeed him as professor of 
Practical Theology in the seminary at Gettysburg, and entered 
on the duties of this chair September 1. He also succeeded at 
the same time to Dr. Richard’s interest in the Lutheran Quarterly 
and since then has been one of the three editors of this old and 
valued periodical. Soon after his return to the East Dr. Clutz 
was elected to fill a vacancy on the Board of Home Missions of 
the General Synod and served as a member of this Board until it 
was merged with the Board of Church Extension in 1915. During 
most of this time he was the treasurer of the Board, and from 
1913 to 1915 was its president. 

At the meeting of the General Synod in Richmond, Indiana, 
in 1909, Dr. Clutz was appointed a member of the Committee 
on the Common Service. He continued to serve on this committee 
until the Merger in 1918, since which time he has been a member 
of the Committee of the United Lutheran Church on the Common 
Service Book. At the same meeting of the General Synod in 
Richmond, Dr. Clutz offered a resolution, which was adopted, 
and which provided for a restatement of the Doctrinal Basis of 
the General Synod to be prepared by the Common Service Com- 
mittee in harmony with various actions taken from 1864 to 1909. 
As a member of a sub-committee he assisted in the framing of 
this restatement, which was reported to and approved by the 
General Synod at Washington in 1911, and which was subsequent- 
ly approved by every synod connected with the General Synod, 
as reported at the meeting in Atchison, Kansas, in 1918. This 
was one of the things that prepared the way for the Merger of 
1918 and made it possible. As a. member of these committees 
he assisted also in the preparation of the New ‘Common Service 
Book,” of the Common Order for Ministerial Acts, and of the col- 
lection of “Hymns and Prayers for Church Societies and As- 
semblies.”’ 


When the Merger was projected in the spring of 1917, Dr. 
Clutz was appointed a member of the joint-committee to frame a 
constitution for the proposed new body. At the meeting of the 
General Synod in 1917 he was made a member of its Committee on 
Ways and Means which was to co-operate with similar committees 
from the General Council and the United Synod in making all 
the arrangements for the Merger. When the three committees 
met for organization, Dr. Clutz was elected secretary of the joint- 
committee. In this position he had a large and responsible part 
in the work which ended so happily in the organization of the 
United Lutheran Church in America in New York City, No- 
vember 14-18, 1918, and because of his familiarity with all the 
details of the work he was appointed to act as assistant to the 


158 HiIstoRy oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


president and secretary of the new body at its first convention. 
He was also elected at this convention as a member of the first 
Executive Board of the U. L. C., and at the Washington con- 
vention in 1920 he was re-elected for another term of four years. 

Since 1905 Dr. Clutz has been a member of the Board of 
Trustees of Pennsylvania, now Gettysburg College, and he is now 
serving a third term of five years on the Executive Committee of 
the Board. He was also the chairman of the Administrative Com- 
mittee which had charge of the conduct of the college during the 
vacancy in the presidency between the resignation of Dr. Gran- 
ville, March 1, 1923, and the election of Dr. Hanson at the June 
Commencement of the same year. 

As a member of the Synod of West Pennsylvania since 1904, 
Dr. Clutz has served on many important committees. Up to the 
time of his going to the seminary he was a member of the Com- 
mittee on Ministerial Education and the Examining Committee. 
He was chairman of the committee appointed to frame the new 
Constitution and By-Laws adopted in 1922. He was also chair- 
man of the committee that has had in charge the preparation and 
publishing of the Centennial History of the Synod, and also a 
member of the committee to arrange the program for the proper 
celebration of the synod’s centennial, and he represented the synod 
as a delegate to the meetings of the General Synod at Pittsburgh 
in 1905, at Sunbury in 1907, at Richmond, Indiana, in 1909, at 
Washington in 1911, at Atchison, Kansas, in 1913, at Chicago in 
1917, and to the Conventions of the United Lutheran Church in 
New York in 1918, in Washington in 1920, and in Buffalo in 1922. 

To quote the word’s of another, ‘‘Dr. Clutz’s career embraces 
such a wide variety of usefulness, such a large number of respon- 
sible positions occupied, and such a long period of faithful service 
for the Lord, as would be very difficult to parallel in the whole 
Lutheran Church in America.” 

Dr Clutz has published a number of pamphlets on practical 
subjects connected with the work of the Church, and has written 
numerous articles for the Lutheran Quarterly and for other period- 
icals. He is the author of several tracts which were widely dis- 
tributed by the Board of Church Extension of the General Synod, 
one of them, entitled ““Mrs. Brocht’s Confession,” having passed 
the hundred thousand. | 

In 1920 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws 
from Midland College, Fremont, Nebraska, and when a chapter 
of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity was organized in Gettysburg 
College in 1923 he was elected to an Alumni membership. 


The last distinguished service that Dr. Clutz rendered was 
as a member of a committee of the United Lutheran Church to 
attend the Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work that 
was held in Stockholm, Sweden, during the month of August, 
1925. While in Stockholm he was struck by an automobile truck 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 159 


and seriously injured. Apparently recovering from the injury, 
he left the hospital and started on his homeward journey, but 
died suddenly of heart failure while on the train soon after leaving 
Stockholm, on Monday, September 7th. His body was brought 
to Gettysburg, Pa., and after a largely attended funeral service 
in the College Church was laid to rest in the Citizen’s Cemetery 
of that place on September 24, 1925. Testimonials to the beauty 
and strength of his Christian character, to his ability as a preacher 
and a teacher, and to his influence and usefulness in the Lutheran 
Church were published in the secular and religious press. As 
chairman of the committee charged with the preparation of this 
History of the West Pennsylvania Synod, the publication of the 
above sketch of his life seems particularly appropriate here. 


REV. A. STEWART HARTMAN, D.'D. 


Rev. A. Stewart Hartman, D. 
D., was the oldest son of Moses 
and Elizabeth Rebert Hartman 
and was born on a farm and mill 
property in Franklin Township, 
Adams County, Pa., near the 
village of Cashtown, on the 19th 
of December, 1845. 

His grandfather was Jacob 
Hartman, a pioneer settler in 
that section of the country, a 
prominent farmer and for many 
years a devoted and influential 
member of the Lutheran Church 
at Arendtsville. His maternal 
erandparents were also old tesi- 
dents in the same community 
and were faithful members of . 
the Flohr’s Reformed Church on — 
the Gettysburg and Chambersburg turnpike near Cashtown. In 
the spring of 1847 in the month of March when the subject. of 
this sketch was about fifteen months old, his parents moved from 
the place of his birth in Franklin Township to a large farm in 
Mt. Joy Township in the southern part of the county just one 
mile north of the famous ‘“‘Mason and Dixon” line and four miles 
west of Littlestown and within the parish bounds of St. John’s 
Lutheran Church, the oldest distinctly Lutheran organization in 
the county, located one mile west of Littlestown. 


It was on this farm known as “Achnacloy,” originally occupied 
by the Scotch-Irish that young Hartman passed the years of his 





160 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


childhood and youth until he was seventeen years of age and 
ready to take up his work at college in preparation for the ministry 
of the Gospel. 

He received his early schooling in the country public school 
located about three-quarters of a mile from his home. At that 
time it Was a genuine ‘“‘backwoods” school of frontier-days type 
that here and there survived. 

It was a small wooden building with very primitive equip- 
ment located in the midst of the “forest primeval” and reached 
only over uncharted roadways and bridle paths through the 
gloomy woodland. He attended this school during its sessions 
which usually covered about four months of the late fall and 
winter, extending from the first of November to March, from the 
time he was five years of age. ° 

Near the close of the school term in the spring of 1861, an 
unexpected visitor appeared at the home on a Saturday afternoon 
in the person of Rev. Frank B. Wolf, the principal of a recently 
established classical academy in Littlestown. 

Rev. Wolf was a graduate of Pennsylvania College and of 
the Theological: Seminary and had been licensed by the West 
Pennsylvania Synod. 

He came to induce the father to send his son to the academy. 
‘The father agreed to do so and on the 14th of April, 1861, he 
was enrolled as a student in the Littlestown Classical Institute. 
He pursued his studies in that school at much inconvenience and 
with the experience of not a little physical hardship. During the 
summer months he boarded at home and was obliged, a large 
part of the time, to walk to and from school, a distance of fully 
nine miles, daily, and in addition, he assisted in doing the “chores” 
morning and evening. 

During the winter months, he roomed at a hotel in the village 
which was of much advantage as it gave him more physical com- 
fort and better opportunity to study. 

He attended this Academy until June, 1863. At that time 
the principal retired and entered the work of the Sanitary Com- 
mission of the Union Army. 

These were days of great anxiety and turmoil. The invasion 
of Pennsylvania by the Army of Northern Virginia under General 
Lee was in progress and the battle of Gettysburg occurred a few 
weeks later on July Ist, 2nd and 3rd, and made a profound im- 
pression on this hitherto quiet and rather obscure country side. 


Young Hartman then a young man of seventeen years, was 
busy during those strenuous days carrying bread and pies to the 
soldiers in camp and hospitals in the neighborhood and in visiting 
various sections of the battlefield after the retirement of the con- 
tending armies. His father had planned to have his son enter 
college at Gettysburg at the opening of the fall term in September, 
18638, but owing to the disturbed state of affairs incident to the 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 161 


battle, both in his own home and in the college, the plan of going 
to college at that time was indefinitely postponed. 

But after the battle and the retirement of the armies, matters 
quite rapidly assumed their normal condition and the decision 
was reconsidered and the son was entered as a student in the 
Preparatory department of the college on the first of November, 
1863. The following year he was admitted to the freshman class 
and completed his college course in the class of 18968. 


His course was slightly interrupted at the beginning of his 
Junior year when, in order to improve his financial status, he en- 
gaged in teaching for a period of five months. He accepted the 
appointment of principal of the schools in Tanevtown, Md., and 
filled that position from September Ist, 1866, to February Ist, 1867. 

He then returned to college and resumed his place in his 
class. In September following his graduation, he entered the 
Seminary at Gettysburg and completed his first year in theology 
in that institution. 

Owing to the fact that his father, a farmer of limited means, 
desired to devote his three sons to the ministry of the Gospel, 
and who at that time, was providing the means for their education 
thus assuming rather a heavy task, this eldest son felt that it 
was incumbent upon him, if possible, to relieve him of some of the 
financial strain. 

In seeking a solution of that problem, he conceived, that he 
found it in the opportunity to take his last two years in theology 
in the Union Seminary of New York and decided to embrace it. 

He believed that he would be able to secure a position as 
teacher or in some other suitable vocation and be able to earn 
enough to meet his financial obligations. In that matter his hopes 
were realized. He completed his two years in that Seminary, was 
oraduated with the class of 1871 in the Madison Square Presby- 
terian Church of which the distinguished Dr. Wm. Adams was 
then pastor. 

During his Seminary course, he frequently supplied pulpits 
in his own church and in other denominations. 

In the vacation between his Junior and Middle years, he 
supplied the pulpits of the Greencastle, Pa., pastorate. He also 
supplied pulpits at Suffolk, L. I., Presbyterian; Whippeny, N. J., 
Methodist; Greenwich, Conn., Congregational and others. 

As the Sunday School Missionary of St. James’ Lutheran 
Church of N. Y., he organized a mission Sunday School in a slum- 
mish section of the city at Broome and Delaney Sts., east of the 
Bowery which was supported and equipped by the mother church. 
He also conducted preaching services in the chapel at night. 

He was licensed to preach by the New York Synod at its 
Convention in October, 1870, at Ghent, N. Y. The following 
year he was ordained at Germantown, N. Y., by the same Synod. 

The Christ Church of Ghent was vacant at the time of his 


162 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


licensure and he was asked by the President of the Synod to supply 
the pulpit as he might have opportunity. 

After supplying for a few Sundays, the congregation extended 
him a call to the pastorate, against his earnest protest and which 
he was constrained to decline as he did not see his way clear to 
take up the work of a regular pastorate while six months of his 
Seminary course were still unfinished and with the long cherished 
hope of taking a year in some German university, at the close of 
his theological course in this country, unrealized. 

The call, however, was urgently renewed and on the advice 
of his pastor, Dr. A. C. Wedekind and the President of the Synod, 
Dr. H. N. Poblman, he yielded and accepted the call to begin 
January Ist, 1871, with the condition that he would not be expected 
to do any pastoral work except preaching on Sunday, other than 
he might be able to do on that day. 

He removed to Ghent in May, 1871, and assumed full charge 
of the work. After two years and five months of a most delight- 
ful pastorate, he was called to St. Matthew’s Church of Brooklyn, 
N. Y., which he reluctantly accepted, as the church had suffered 
severely from a vacancy of more than a year and seemed to be in 
a seriously demoralized state. His predecessor was Dr. I. K. 
Funk, founder of the large Publishing House of Funk & Wagnels. 
He assumed charge on the 15th of May, 1873, and had the joy of 
seeing the diverse forces harmonized and the work revived and 
strengthened. 

During his pastorate here, he canvassed a new, growing 
section of the southern part of the city and organized a Sunday 
School under hopeful auspices which was successfully conducted 
by members of St. Matthew’s Church. 

In the midst of his important work here, and without his 
desiring or seeking it, he received a call to the First Church of 
Chambersburg, Pa., as the successor of Dr. Luther A. Gotwald. 

As this call seemed to be entirely providential and as it 
offered apparently a large field of useful service in the church, 
he was constrained to accept it and took up his work in that 
historic pastorate on the 15th of May, 1875. 

After a happy ministry of nearly fourteen years and six 
months, he was called to the position of General Secretary of the 
Board of Home Missions of the General Synod, which he accepted. 

This work he took up on the first of October, 1889, and re- 
moved to Baltimore on the first of November, following. 

He was re-elected at the beginning of 12 successive bienniums 
and held the position until the first of February, 1916, a period 
of 26 years and four months. 


In May, 1883, he was elected a member of the Board of Home 
Missions at the convention of the General Synod at Springfield, 
Ohio, and served in that capacity until June, 1889, after which he 
became General Secretary. 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 163 


When the consolidation of the Board of Home Missions and 
Church Extension, authorized at the Akron convention in 1915, 
went into effect on the first of February, 1916, Dr. Hartman was 
made Associate Secretary of the consolidated Boards and served 
in that capacity until the Merger of the three General bodies was 
effected in 1919. 


At the organization of the Board of Home Missions and Church 
Extension of the U. L. C., he was elected Educational Secretary 
of Home Missions and Church Extension which position he still 
holds. 

Thus he has had official relation to the work of the church 
for the space of nearly 42 years and with his service as a Home 
Missionary for two years, he has been identified with the Home 
Mission work of the church for a period of 44 years. 

During the years of his connection with the Home Mission 
cause, especially as General Secretary, he traveled many thousands 
of miles in the interests of that work and co-operated in the canvass 
of many fields and advised in regard to the organization of many 
mission churches in new fields. He personally inspected and as- 
sisted in the canvass of such important fields as Cleveland, Toledo, 
Detroit, Duluth, Minneapolis, Winnipeg and Toronto, Canada, 
Clinton and Waterloo, Ia., Chattanooga and Nashville, Tenn., St. 
Louis and Kansas City, Mo., Quincy and Rockford and Chicago, 
ll., Canon City, Boulder, Glenwood Springs and Denver, Colo., 
Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, Santa Fe and Alburquerque, N. 
M., Napa, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Stockton and Fresno, Cal., 
and many others in the eastern section of our country as Troy, 
Schenectady, Amsterdam, Syracuse and Buffalo, N. Y., and many 
others. 

For a period of twenty-five years he had editorial charge of 
the Home Missionary department of the “Lutheran Missionary 
Journal” and was a frequent contributor to the church periodicals 
on subjects related to the Home Mission work of the church. 

He filled a number of other responsible positions in other 
spheres of church activity. For twenty-one years he was a mem- 
ber of the Board cf Trustees of the Tressler Orphan’s Home at 
Loysville, Pa., and for twenty years was the secretary of the 
Board. He was also for the same time a member of the Executive 
Committee and of the Building Committee. 

For three years, from 1880 to 1883, he was the President of 
the West Pennsylvania Synod. He filled the position of a Director 
of the Theological Seminary for one term. 

He was four times elected as a delegate to the General Synod, 
at Wooster, O., in 1879; at Springfield, O., in 1883; Omaha, Neb., 
in 1887; and at Akron,.O., in 1915. | 

He prepared and presented to the General Synod all the re- 
ports of the Board of Home Missions for twenty-six years. 

In the churches which he had the privilege of serving as 


164 History oF WeEstT PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


pastor, he strove to inculcate in his people a vigorous missionary 
spirit and especially to encourage a friendly attitude towards our 
Home Missionary work, being strongly of the opinion that this 
cause is essential to the growth, efficiency and largest prosperity 
of the church and of all the agencies of the sacred ministry. 

While pastor at Ghent he initiated and promoted an effort 
in the growing neighboring village of Chatham that resulted in 
the organization of our church at that place. 

During his pastorate in Chambersburg, Pa., he inaugurated 
the movement that ultimately led to the establishment of Trinity 
Lutheran Church in the growing northern section of the town. 
He selected and secured an option on the very eligible lots on 
which the church was subsequently built. He thus endeavored to 
ilustrate his faith by his works. 

Dr. Hartman was twice married. His first marriage was to 
Miss Julia ©. Hollinger and was solemnized at her home, ‘‘Rose- 
lawn,’’ near Gettysburg on the 7th of June, 1871. 

The ceremony was performed by Rev. H. Louis Baugher, D. 
D., a Professor in Pennsylvania College. 

After eight years and three months of a happy married life, 
this capable and helpful wife, in the midst of her usefulness, 
entered into rest, being stricken with a serious form of malarial 
fever. 

She left behind, besides her bereaved husband, four young 
children to mourn her loss—two sons and two daughters. The 
oldest son, Robert N., after completing his course at Gettysburg 
College, pursued a post graduate course at Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, receiving his Ph. D. degree at the age of 22 years in 1894. 
As Professor of Chemistry, he successfully taught at Susquehanna 
University, Tufts College, Mass. and the School of Mines, Colo. 

In the pursuance of his duties in the latter institution, he 
met a tragic death by asphyxiation in May, 1903. The younger 
son, Herbert H., took the full college and Seminary course at 
Gettysburg and entered the ministry in 1903. His first pastorate 
was Bridgeport, Conn.; the second, Zion’s, Newville; the third, 
his present one, Augsburg, in Baltimore. 

The two daughters early took up the vocation of teaching in 
Baltimore. Later the older one accepted a position in Midland 
College, Atchison, Kansas, where she was married to Prof. Gran- 
ville H. Meixell. After sixteen months of married life, she was 
widowed by his death from pneumonia, leaving her with an infant 
daughter. The mother and daughter reside in New York where 
the mother is connected with the educational department of the 
Popular Science Monthly and the daughter is a librarian at Co- 
lumbia University, being a graduate of that institution. The 
younger daughter has been a teacher in the Baltimore schools 
for many years. 

Dr. Hartman was married a second time on the 6th of June, 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 165 


1881, to Miss Emma J. Rowe, of Emmitsburg, Md. Two children 
were born of this union, a daughter and ason. The daughter is 
now a teacher of English in Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pa., 
and the son is at home with his father. 

By the generosity of the Board of Home Missions, Dr. Hart- 
man was afforded the privilege of attending the ‘“‘World’s Mission- 
ary Conference” at Edinburgh in June, 1910, and in connection 
with the trip he not only visited interesting sections of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland; but also several countries of Continental 
Europe, Holland, Germany, Belgium and France. Dr. Hartman 
received the degree of A. M. from his Alma Mater in 1871 and the 
degree of D. D. from Wittenburg College in 1888. 


FOV A Ge EAS INA Oe): 


ReveecouGemlasthachty ia). 
was born near Ephrata, Lan- 
caster County, Pa., June 30, 
1845. His parents were Jehu 
and Mattie Fastnacht. He was 
baptized by Rev. Samuel Trum- 
bauer and confirmed by Rev. S. 
R. Boyer, October 20, 1860, both 
ministers being members. of 
the Pennsylvania Munisterium. 

After teaching school several 
years he took a year’s course in 
the Preparatory Department of 
Pennsylvania College and enter- 
ed that college in 1865, graduat- 
ing in 1870, having been absent 
four terms while teaching. In 
1865 he united with St. John’s 
Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Pa., 
Rev. Dr. A. C. Wedekind, pastor. As a beneficiary of the East 
Pennsylvania Synod during his college and seminary course, he 
was licensed by that Synod at Easton, Pa., October 1, 1872. He 
spent the summer vacation of 1871 and 1872, supplying the Lu- 
thersburg charge in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and was 
elected pastor of this charge, the call to go into effect at the end 
of his Senior year in the Seminary in 1873. . He suggested calling 
Rey. E. Manges and the suggestion was at once followed. 


In March, 1873, he was elected as the first pastor of the newly 
organized Mt. Holly and Boiling Springs charge, the call to go 
into effect April 1. The call was accepted and he served the 
charge until October 1, 1875. 





166 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


He was married to Miss Mary E. Warren of Gettysburg, 
June 10, 1873. 

After leaving his first charge he did some work for the Luth- 
eran Publication Society, Lutheran Observer and supplying of 
pulpits. He was elected pastor of the Union Lutheran Church of 
York, Pa., January 1, 1877, and entered upon his work there 
February 1, 1877. He continued to render a popular and useful 
service during a pastorate of 26 years, until June 14, 1903, when 
failing health made it necessary for him to relinquish the heavy 
duties of a large and growing charge. 

Regaining his strength he did considerable pulpit supply 
work until July 9, 1905, when he began his work in the Salem 
(Dover) charge which he served until May 31, 1916, and has since 
then resided at 1548 West Market street, York. 

He has served his Synod as trustee of the Orphan’s Home at 
Loysville, delegate to General Synod four times, director of the 
Theological Seminary, member of the Historical and Centenary 
committees of Synod, Necrologist of Synod, and was President of 
Synod, 1889-1891. 

He is also President of the Board of Trustees of the York 
County Academy. Pennsylvania College honored him with the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1902. 

By order of Synod for free distribution in its congregations, 
there was published a four-page tract on Plans of Systematic 
Benevolence, written by Dr. Fastnacht; also, by request of pub- 
lishers, Memorial Addresses on the life and work of Revs. Drs. D. 
J. Hauer and M. J. Alleman, Best Method of Catechising, Build- 
ing up a large Sunday School, anniversary and historical sermons, 
etc. 

Before and since his retirement, many acts of kindness have 
been shown him by the people of the Union Lutheran Church. 
On retiring from the pastorate they presented him with almost 
$1400. Two members remembered him in their wills, as also one 
person not a member. They elected him Pastor Emeritus and 
give him a pension of $300 a year. Constant substantial favors 
and words of kindly feeling come to him and his companion. 
The increasing prosperity in the congregation is a continued cause 
of joy to both of them. 

Rey. Fastnacht spent all his ministerial life, since ordination, 
in the bounds of West Pennsylvania Synod; and he is the oldest 
minister on its roll in point of continuous membership, a period 
of more than 52 years. 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 167 


REV. EDMUND MANGES 


Rev. Edmund Manges was 
born January 25, 1842, in Alle- 
ghany Township, Somerset 
County, Pa. His parents were 
Joseph Manges and his wife 
Catharine, nee Geiger. At six 
years of age having lost his 
father by death, he lived with 
his mother except for a period of 
a few years during which he 
made his home with a_half- 
brother. 

Having saved upalittle money, 
when 17 years of age he went to 
County Normal School and be- 
gan teaching Public School. 

In September, 1864, he enter- 
ed the Civil War, was detailed 
as Regimental Clerk of the 52nd 
Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and filled this position till 
the close of the War, June, 1865. 

In the fall of 1865, he entered the preparatory department of 
Pennsylvania College and graduated from the College in 1870. 
In the same year he went to the Theological Seminary and grad- 
uated in 18738. 

He married Miss Margaret Whisker in May, 1872. Seven 
children, three boys and four girls, all living, brought their bless- 
ing to this union. His oldest son, the Rev. Lewis C. Manges, D. 
D., is pastor of Memorial Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Pa., and 
at the time of this writing is President of the East Pennsylvania 
Synod. Another son in the Lutheran Ministry is the Rev. E. L. 
Manges, pastor of the flourishing church at Huntingdon, Pa. His 
third son, Willis F. Manges, M. D., has attained high reputation 
as an X-ray specialist in Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. 

After a happy pastorate of about five years, he resigned the 
Luthersburg Charge in Clearfield County, Pa., about January Ist, 
1878, to take effect April Ist, 1878. Very reluctantly, even re- 
fusing to accept his resignation, his people gave him up in order 
that he might enter upon the service of the Shrewsbury charge, 
which he held for a period of three years. During this time there 
were added to the membership of the charge 177, by baptism, 
confirmation, and transfer from other churches. 

During the first part of January, 1894, he visited the Lebanon 
Charge, York County, Pa., received a call, and entered the field 
soon afterwards. The charge consisted of the Lebanon Congre- 
gation, St. Paul’s, Felton, St. James’ and St. Luke’s in Chance- 





168 History OF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ford Township. At the meeting of Synod at Hanover in October, 
1898, the charge was divided, St. James’ and St. Luke’s becoming 
Chanceford Charge; Lebanon and St. Paul’s constituting the Leb- 
anon Charge. This arrangement was consumated in April, 1899. 

This divisicn left Lebanon and St. Paul’s a very weak charge. 
The church at Loganville being without a pastor, and nowhere 
else connected, was added to the charge on the 4th of June, 1899. 
He severed his connection with the Lebanon Charge in October, 

1899, and accepted the pastorate of the Green Hill Charge, con- 
sisting of Green Hill, a suburb of York, Spry, Yorkanna and Logan- 
ville. During his service in the Lebanon Charge there were added 
by baptism, confirmation and from other churches 463 members; 
and in the Green Hill charge, 28 members. 

On May 25th, 1902, he ended his pastorate of the Green Hill 
Charge, and since that date has retired from active pastoral 
service, though continuing to preach from time to time as a supply. 
He is now one of the honored senior members of our West Penn- 
sylvania Synod. 


REND AV Deis OS DRA sais 


David T. Koser, son of Sam- 
uel and Mary Koser, was born 
on a farm near Shippensburg, 
Pennsylvania, March 7th, 1845. 
He was confirmed by Rev. L. A. 
Gotwald, then pastor of the 
Lutheran Church of Shippens- 
burg. 

He received his education in 
the local public schools and later 
at the Missionary Institute of 
Selinsgrove, Pa., at Pennsylvania 
College, and the Theological 
Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., 
eraduating from the latter in- 
stitution in 1874. He was l- 
censed by the West Pennsylvania 
Synod at its meeting in St. Paul’s 
Lutheran Church, York, Pa., in 
1873. His first pastorate was that of the Addison Charge of 
Somerset County, Pennsylvania; then that of the Riegelsville 
charge of Riegelsville, Pennsylvania. He accepted a call to the 
Arendtsville Pastorate of the West Pennsylvania Synod, in Au- 
gust, 1887. Here he spent the last 36 years of his active work 
and rendered a faithful service in the ministry. He retired to 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 169 


private life May Ist, 1923, and moved to Gettysburg, Pennsyl- 
vanla. 

On June 30, 1874, he married Miss Rachel A. Gelwicks, 
daughter of John and Lena Gelwicks, who died after thirteen 
years of wedded life. Later he married Mrs. Sarah E. Peters, 
daughter of Henry and Margaret Little. His children are: Mrs. 
L. Grace Campbell, wife of Dr. E. E. Campbell, President of 
Irving College; Rev. John G. Koser, Pastor of the Lutheran 
Church of Glade, Pennsylvania; Miss Ruth E. Koser of Williams- 
port, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Vida E. Rice, wife of Prof. Kd. 
Rice, of the Arendtsville Vocational School. 

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Tressler Orphans’ 
Home, Loysville, Pa., and of the Board of Directors of the Gettys- 
burg Theolegical Seminary. 

He was honored by his Alma Mater with the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity. 


Rey Se Ue EL LeU EE IViEIN se): 


Inasmuch as I am to set down 
here some things concerning my- 
self about which I have perhaps 
more intimate knowledge than 
any other, I may as well write 
in the first personal singular— 
and let it go at that. 

I was born November &th, 
1851, in Somerset County, Penn- 
svylvania. My parents were Rev. 
J. F. Kuhlman, and his wife 
Louisa Smith. On the maternal 
side, therefore, I am widely con- 
nected. My father came with 
his parents from Germany when 
he was eight years old. He is 
still living, approaching his ninty- 
fifth year. My mother was born 
in this country, and was called 
home at the early age of twenty years, before she had opportunity 
even to impress the memory of her child. 


So it came about that I entered the home of my paternal 
grandparents. They were so limited in worldly goods that when 
they landed in this country they owed their passage money. But 
they were sober, industrious people, and a measure of prosperity 
rewarded their toil. The foundation of their home was simple 
honesty, and its atmosphere was clean and wholesome. I did not 





170 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


realize it at the time, but I have long felt my obligation to that 
home. It was a good place in which to be brought up. My 
grandmother was in some respects an unusual woman, possessed 
of some homely philosophy and astrong, pietistic religion. Through 
the mysterious touch and influence of one life upon another, she 
left her impress upon my mind and heart. If it were in place to 
make her the subject of this sketch I could write some inter- 
esting things. 

Under these conditions life was not the easiest. There was 
always so much to do, that little time was left for play. Yet I 
had some days off, and I recall walking fourteen miles to know 
the thrill of Robinson’s show. Comforts were few, a snd of lux- 
uries I did not dream. Educational advantages were | mited, and 
such as they were my use of them was frequently cut Short by the 
spring sugar making and other work in which I participated. 
However, I made such progress in my studies that before I was 
seventeen I was teaching my first district school. This was par- 
ticularly important, for it put me in a position to earn money to 
bear the expenses of further schooling. 

The next seven years were spent in the home of my father in 
Nebraska. Father, with the rest of the family, had come hither 
several years prior as the home missionary of the Allegheny Synod, 
one of the earliest, perhaps the second, Lutheran preacher to cross 
the “Big Muddy.” Thus I passed from the quiet, settled life 
of the mountains to the wider, adventuresome life of the vast, 
wind-swept prairies. The change was significant In more Ways 
than I have space to indicate. As we ordinarily measure them, 
fine opportunities, unsought, came my way. One man, and he 
was fully able to do so, offered to establish a drug store if I would 
take charge of it, and we would divide the profits. A lawyer, a 
leader in his profession, urged me to study law, agreeing to take 
me as an equal partner—the day I should be admitted to the bar. 
The governor of the state, a friend of my father, said to him, “I 
will appoint Luther to the Military Academy at West Point, if 
you wish it.’ After the appointment had been given to another, 
my father told me of the offer that had been made to him, and 
When I asked him why he did not consult me about it, he replied 
“T was afraid you might be foolish enough to desire it.”’ From 
this distance I can understand the process of elimination thr ough 
which I was passing. 


The employments of these years were varied, farming, car- 
pentering, clerking, surveying and teaching. Father gave every 
possible encouragement and assistance for my further education. 
So, when the State University was organized, I was one of the 
first to enter its opened doors. ‘The record will show that I am a 
charter student of that now worthwhile University, that I had a 
share in the establishment of two of its literary societies, the 
' founding of its first student publication, ‘““The Hesperian Student,” 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES ape) 


and the running of its first public lecture course. I remained at 
the University two years and a half, and my attachment to the 
institution Was warm and sincere. During this period I was con- 
firmed, by my father, in the Lutheran Church at Dakotah City. 

Again the scene changes. I returned to my native state, 
and in January, 1876, became a member of the Class of ’79 in 
Pennsylvania College. In College I was an active Philo, but did 
not join any of the fraternities. I was an anniversary speaker, 
and in due time graduated with my class, receiving second honor 
and the valedictory. My theological course was taken at Get- 
tysburg, and during my first seminary vear [ also taught in the 
Preparatory School. I was licensed and ordained, the latter in 
1882, by the Allegheny Synod at Salisbury, Pa. 


My engagements since entering the Lutheran ministry have 
been as follows, not giving fractions of years:—two years at Jen- 
nerstown, Pa., four years at the Second Lutheran Church, Balti- 
more, sixteen years at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Freder- 
ick City, Md., thirteen years as Professor of Biblical Theology in 
the Seminary at Gettysburg, three years as Field Secretary of 
the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Synod, with resi- 
dence in York, Pa., and two years as pastor of St. John’s Lutheran 
Church, Boiling Springs, Pa. For three vears I have been Bishop 
at large—I can think of no better phrase just now—with no rec- 
ognized position. As a peculiarity this position has no vacation 
attached, so I have been busy practically every Sunday, and some 
times for months, continuously, in the same pulpit and congrega- 
tion. 

During my ministry I have received my full share of recog- 
nition from my brethren and the Church. I have been a member 
of many, some times important and troublesome, committees, 
president of my synod, repeatedly a delegate to the General Synod, 
Secretary of the General Synod, delegate to the Convention of 
the United Lutheran Church, given a Holman Lecture and many 
sermons and addresses on special occasions, and the degree of 
doctor of divinity from my Alma Mater. I am also a member 
of Phi Beta Kappa. 

What, whether little or much, has been accomplished during 
the years thus briefly reviewed, is not for me to say. It will not 
be unseemly, however, for me to say that I have some satisfaction 
in thinking of my participation in two particular lines of work. 
For I do not know how many years I was a member and chairman 
of the education committee of the Maryland Synod, and had to 
do with the selection and care of candidates for the ministry. 
This was to me important and serious business, and I sought to 
give it the best judgment of which I was capable. The other 
special work to which I refer has to do with foreign missions. 
Karly in my ministry, after I had become pastor of the Second 
Church, Baltimore, and upon the death of Dr. Charles A. Stork, 


72 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


who was then president of the Board of Foreign Missions of the 
General Synod, I was elected a member of that Board, and re- 
mained a member, continuously, for thirty-two years. Nineteen 
of these years I was president of the Board. The work entrusted 
to this Board enlisted my full interest and sympathy, and to have 
had a part in the conduct and development thereof, to have ad- 
vocated it before the Church by voice and pen, and to have 
explained and vindicated the course of the Board in some trying 
situations, all this was a fine privilege. After my resignation from 
the Board, I served it three years as Field Secretary. 

In September, 1882, I was united in marriage with Alice 
Louise Warren, of Gettysburg. One of my chief good fortunes 
has been and is, that she remains with me to this present. She 
has been a loving, faithful wife and companion, a sympathetic 
and efficient helper and adviser in every task with which I have 
had to do. 


REV L. Bo WOLE. DoD, 


Luther Beniah Wolf was born 
November 29, 1857, at Abbotts- 
town, Adams Co., Pa., the son 
of John George and Eleanor Bit- 
tinger Wolf. He was reared in 
the atmosphere of religious in- 
terest and devotion. For over 
twenty-five years his father was 
an elder in St. James’ Lutheran 
Church of Chambersburg, Pa. 
Three of his mother’s brothers 
were ministers in the Lutheran, 
Presbyterian, Congregational and 
Christian Churches. His moth- 
er’s uncle endowed a professor- 
ship in Gettysburg College. 
There is also a militant blood in 
his veins, for two of his mother’s 
brothers were Lieutenants in the 
Civil War,—one of them a prisoner in Andersonville. Nicholas 
Bittinger was a Lieutenant in the Continental Army, and was 
taken prisoner at Ft. Washington, Pa. 

After his graduation from the Gettysburg High School in 
1875, Mr. Wolf took the full course in preparatory work at Penn- 
sylvania College and graduated. with the class of 1880. Contin- 
uing his studies in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, he 
eraduated in 1883. 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES Lis 


He has been honored with the following degrees: 1893 Fellow 
of the Madras University in India; A. B. and M. A. in cvuurse of 
Pennsylvania College; D. D. from Wittenberg College. 

He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at. its 
meeting in Littlestown in 1882, and ordained by the same Synod 
at Gettysburg, on August 5th, 1883. 

Accepting an appointment by the Board of Foreign Missions, 
December 28th, 1882, he went to India as a missionary and 
served as Principal of the American Lutheran College, Guntur, 
in affiliation with the Madras University, from 1885 until 1907. 
He was President of the Guntur Conference from 1902 to 1907. 
During the entire time of his presidency of the College he was 
Professor of English and English Bible. On June 5th, 1908, he 
was elected Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the 
Lutheran General Synod; and in 1911 he was made the Treasurer 
of the Board. His official position at the present time is that of 
Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Foreign Missions of the 
United Lutheran Church in America. The American Evangelical 
Lutheran College at Guntur, India, was organized by him. 

He was the first editor of the ‘Gospel Witness,’ English 
periodical of the India Lutheran Mission during the first years of 
itsissue. He is the author of several books on missionary subjects: 
“After Fifty Years in India,” in 1893, published by the Lutheran 
Publication Society; “Missionary Heroes,” in 1908, published by 
the Lutheran Publication House; and numerous articles in the 
“Lutheran Quarterly Review.”’ 

On July 3rd, 1883, by Drs. Wolf and Schwartz, in St. James’ 
Lutheran Church, Gettysburg, he was married to Miss Alice 
Catherine Benner, the daughter of Josiah and Edith Norris Benner. 
Her mother was the daughter of Captain Norris of Revolutionary 
fame. The following children were born of this union: George 
Benner, who died of cholera in India in 1889; Edith Norris, the 
wife of Dr. John F. Crigler, Charlotte, N. C.; Eleanor Bittinger, 
wife of Dr. George A. Stewart. She is a graduate of Goucher 
College, and pursued a course of study in medicine at Johns 
Hopkins University leading to the degree of M. D. She was a 
missionary in India from 1914 to 1920. Anna Dryden Wolf, a 
fourth child, is now Superintendent of the Rockefeller Nurses’ 
Training School, Peking, China; she is a graduate of Goucher 
College, and received her M. A. degree from Columbia University. 
Paul Benner Wolf is Assistant Engineer of the Baltimore City 
Paving Commission. 


174 History OF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rove We) Be CO eB 


Rev. \W.. DS He scost was 
born February 6th, 1856, 1 
Mt. Joy Township, near Bar- 
low, Adams County, Pa. He 
was the son of Hugh Guinn 
Scott and Elizabeth Eyler 
Scott. His early education 
was received in the public 
school of his district and until 
he was seventeen he worked 
on the farm. He went one 
term in the spring of 1874 to 
county superintendent of the 
schools of Adams County, and 
in the fall of the same year 
started to ‘“‘Prep.” After four 
years he was graduated from 
Gettysburg College with the 
class of 1880. He _ studied 
theology in the Theological 
Seminary at Gettysburg and 
was graduated in 1883. Was 
licensed on October 2nd, 1882, by the Maryland Synod and or- 
dained by the same synod in Baltimore, Md., October, 1883. 

He preached trial sermons in the Loysville Charge (8 congre- 
gations), November 11, 1883, received a call November 28th, and 
assumed charge December 13th. 


He was married to Miss Laura Edwards Pfeffer of Gettysburg, 
on November 20th, 1884, daughter of Wm. and Susan Pfeffer. 
To them were born six sons and three daughters. 

During his pastorate of the Loysville Charge all three of the 
churches were extensively repaired and many improvements were 
made, bringing the charge to rank high among the congregations 
of the Central Pennsylvania Synod. The Twentieth Anniversary 
of the pastorate of the charge was fittingly celebrated in December, 
1903, with services lasting four days and a fine banquet as a closing 
feature. The centennial of the building of the first church in 
Loysville was properly commemorated in September, 1904, some 
of the former pastors and several sons of the congregation taking 
part in the services. At this time the monument erected to the 
memory of Rev. John Wm. Heim was dedicated. Rev. Heim 
had served this church for thirty-six years and six months, and 
the monument was paid for by a number of the congregations in 
Perry County. 

He resigned the pastoral care of the Loysville Charge, De- 
cember 31st, 1906, to assume duties at Tressler Orphans’ Home, 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 7S 


January Ist, 1907, as Pastor of the Home and Superintendent of 
the Printing Department, and served in this capacity for about 
nine years, making a total of thirty-two years spent in the ministry 
in Loysville. 

He preached every two weeks in the Home Chapel from the 
time it was dedicated in June, 1900, until he resigned from the 
Home in 1915. Served as a member of the Board of Trustees of 
the Home for a number of years and also as a member of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee and was Secretary of the Board from 1900 to 
1913. 

He was a member of the Central Pennsylvania Synod for 
thirty-two years, and served as Secretary 1889-1890, and from 
1899 until 1912; and as President for three years, 1912-1914. 
Was delegate to the General Synod in 1891, 1895, 1907 and 1911. 
Also served on the Examining Committee of the Synod several 
years. 

Upon resigning from the charge to become pastor of the Home 
he was elected superintendent of the town Sunday School where 
he served for about nine years. 

After he resigned his work at the Home he preached trial 
sermons in the three churches of the Bendersville Charge, Adams 
County, December 5th, 1915, and was unanimously elected pastor 
and took up the work here January Ist, 1916, becoming a member 
of the West Pennsylvania Synod. He served this charge for nine 
years, during which time a debt on the new church at Aspers was 
paid and the membership of that church increased from 45 to 
over 90. 

A building fund was also started in the Bendersville congre- 
gation which in 1923 amounted to about $3000. In 1921 this 
congregation celebrated the 80th anniversary of its organization, 
the 75th anniversary of the building of the first church and 25th 
anniversary of the building of the present edifice. Five of the 
former pastors took part in the services which lasted four days, 
namely Revs. H. F. Long, G. W. McSherry, 8. A. Diehl, C. F. 
Floto and Joseph Arnold. 

After serving in this pastorate for almost nine years very 
happily and in the ministry for forty years, owing to impaired 
health he retired from the charge and from the active work of 
the pastorate, September 30th, 1923. He is now living at 785 
Baltimore St., Gettysburg, Pa., still serving as supply as oppor- 
tunity offers. 


176 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 
REV. WILLIAM HESSE, D. D. 


On’ October 9, 1856, -Rev. 
Hesse was born in Martinsburg, 
West Virginia, of Ludwig and 
Agatha Velder Hesse. He was 
baptised by the pastor of the 
German congregation at Mar- 
tinsburg, West Virginia, and was 
catechized and confirmed by 
Rey. M. L. Culler, D. D., pastor 
of St. John’s Lutheran Church, 
Martinsburg. His early educa- 
tion was received in the public 
schools, and after a short course 
in Dr. Hyde’s college, he taught 
in the public schools. Being un- 
der deep conviction to preach 
the Gospel, he was persuaded to 
enter the United Brethren Church 
in 1880. By this denomination 
he was ordained at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1883 by Bishop J. 
Dixon, and he served churches in Virginia and Pennsylvania con- 
ferences until 1888. 

Through the endeavors of Rev. J. M. Ditzler, of Annville, 
Pennsylvania, and Rev. G. W. Enders, D. D., of York, Pennsyl- 
vania, he returned to the Lutheran Church. At Cumberland, 
Maryland, in October, 1888, he was received into the Maryland 
Synod. He accepted a call to Harper’s Ferry Charge, where he 
was installed December 9, 1888. On November 10, 1889, he 
became pastor of the charge at Martins Creek, Pennsylvania, 
in the East Pennsylvania Synod. During his first year here there 
were 104 accessions. On April 20, 18938, he accepted a call to the 
Plumville Charge in the Pittsburgh Synod. While here he or- 
ganized the St. Matthew’s congregation at Rockville and built 
two churches. His next pastorate was at Minerva, Ohio, where 
he began his labors on May 4, 1897. Here he built a fine new 
church and the congregation was put on a firm basis. Two years 
later he entered upon the work of the Pleasant City Charge, of 
the East Obio Synod. At Cambridge, Ohio, he organized what 
is now a flourishing congregation. On October 1, 1902, he began 
his pastorate at Brookville, Pennsylvania, and while here two 
young men were led to the Gospel ministry. He was called to 
Grace Lutheran Church at Leechburg, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 
1907. In September, 1911, he entered upon his new field of labor 
at Coatesville, Pennsylvania, as pastor of the Church of Our 
Saviour. Here he finished the building of the church edifice and 
secured the liquidation of a large portion of the debt. He received 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES Lye 


a call from the New Franklin Charge in Franklin County, Pa., 
November 3, 1920, and entered upon the duties of this pastorate 
eleven days later. He devoted himself*with great earnestness to 
the work here, emphasizing the strength of the Lutheran doctrine 
and seeking to establish firmly the Lutheran membership of this 
union charge. But after a vigorous pastorate, in the midst of 
which he labored under the trial of his wife’s serious illness with 
typhoid fever, he resigned, and closed his labors here on June 30, 
1922. He then retired to his home near Martinsburg, West 
Virginia, where he is living at the time of this writing, and con- 
tinuing his ministerial service as a pulpit supply when called upon. 

In addition to his equipment for the work of the ministry that 
he received in the United Brethren Church, he read Theology ‘and 
Philosophy under the direction of Dr. M. Valentine and Dr. 
Richard, also a special course outlined by Dr. H. W. McKnight. 
He later studied Philosophy at Wooster University and received 
the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Muskingum College in 
June, 1904. 

He married Ruth Elizabeth Van Metre, of Martinsburg, 
West Virginia, on June 6, 1878. To them have been born five 
children: Mary Agatha, wife of Rev. J. Fulton Wilson, Bellevue, 
Pennsylvania; Louella Virginia, deceased wife of Rev. Charles 
Brosius, Muhlenberg Mission, Africa: Charles Felder Van Metre, 
pastor of St. Paul’s Charge of the “West Pennsylvania Synod: 
Margaret Jane, a Red Cross nurse in the United States Navy; and 
William Nelson, who is employed by the Tidewater Oil Company 
as a chemist. 


REV. JACOB E. MAURER 


The subject of this sketch, the 
son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah 
Maurer, was born in Jenner 
Township, Somerset County, Pa. 
in October, 1854. 

He was confirmed in St. James’ 
Lutheran Church, of his native 
County, in December, 1868, by 
Reve .Crist, 

At the age of thirteen he was 
clearly and solemnly impressed 
with a call to the gospel ministry. 
He was licensed by the Alleghany 
Synod, September 10, 1882, at 
Salisbury, Pa.; and ordained by 
the Kansas Synod, October 28, 
1883, at Eureka, Kansas. 

The first nine years of his 
ministerial service were spent in 





178 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the home missionary field, and for a period of about three years 
he directed the activities of the Pittsburgh Synod as their Mission- 
ary President. He has served pastorates of the Lutheran church 
at Boonsboro. Md., Lititz, Pa., Mt. Carroll, Ill., Minerva, Ohio, 
Lovettsville, Va., and Mt. Holly Springs, Pa. He was President 
of the Maryland Synod, 1901 and 1902. 

Since October 1, 1924, when he relinquished the work of the 
Mt. Holly Springs Charge, he has been living at Lititz, Pa., and 
continuing his usefulness in the ministry as a supply pastor and 
preacher. 


REV. MELANCHTHON COOVER, D. D., LL. D. 


Born March 26, 1861, son of 
Jacob and Ann Margaret (Lind- 
say-Teeter) Coover of Johns- 
town, Pa. 

After preparation under pri- 
vate tutorship he entered Penn- 
sylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa, 
in 1883, and was graduated in 
the class of 1887 with the degree 
of A. B., one of three first honor 
men of the class. He was grad- 
uated from the Lutheran Theo- 
logical Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa. 
1890. The degree of A. M. was 
conferred by his Alma Mater in 
1890; D. D., by Franklin and 
Marshall College, 1905; LL.D. by 
Gettysburg College, 1923. His 
fraternity membership 1s in Phi 
Gamma Delta, and Phi Beta Kappa. 

During his seminary course he served as tutor in the Gettys- 
burg Academy (Steven’s Hall), 1887-1890. His pastorates were, 
St. Paul’s Church, Ardmore, Pa., 1890-1901, Christ (College) 
Church, Gettysburg, Pa., 1901-1904. In 1904 he was elected to the 
chair of the English Bible and Chaplain in Pennsylvania College; 
in 1905 he became professor of New Testament Exegesis and Ecclesi- 
astical History in the Lutheran Theological Seminary of the General 
Synod, Gettysburg, Pa., which chair he filled from 1905 to 1916, 
in which year the chair was changed to the subjects, New Testa- 
ment Language and Literature, which subjects he continues to 
teach to the present. 

He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the 
Lutheran Publication Society, General Synod, 1908-1915; member 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 179 


of the American Section of the International Sunday School Lesson 
Committee, 1908-1914; member of the Society of Biblical Litera- 
ture and Exegesis. 

Author, Quest and Query, Badger, the Gorham Press, Boston; 
The Tempted Messiah, Peter’s Confession and Keys, Lutheran 
Publication House; Article, Liturgics of the Sunday School, in the 
Encyclopedia of Sunday Schools and Religious Education; lecturer 
on the Holman Foundation of the Augsburg Confession, art. xvii, 
in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, 1903; contributor and de- 
partment editor of Current English Religious Thought in the 
Lutheran Quarterly Magazine, 1901-1905; contributor of various 
articles in the same magazine, 1900-1914; and in the Lutheran 
Observer. 

Married to Lucey May Moses, Johnstown, Pa., September 3, 
1891; children, Donald Bruce Coover, M. D., New Cumberland, 
Pa., and Margaret H., wife of Rev. Howard R. Gold, New Ro- 
chelle, N. Y. 


REV. FREDERICK GEBHART GOTWALD, D. D.* 


The subject of this sketch was 
born in Aaronsburg, Centre 
County, Pennsylvania, May 11, 
1869. His grand-father, Rev. 
Daniel Gotwald, was ordained 
by the West Pennsylvania Synod 
in 1829, and was a pioneer pastor 
in Adams and Centre Counties, 
Pennsylvania. At the time of 
his death, in 1844, at Aarons- 
burg, he was preaching at six- 
teen different points throughout 
that section. 

Three of his sons entered the 
Lutheran ministry and one of 
these, Rev. Luther Alexander 
Gotwald, D. D., was the father 
of the subject of this sketch. 
He was ordained by the West 
Pennsylvania Synod in 1859, and served pastorates in this Synod 
in Shippensburg, Chambersburg and St. Paul’s, York. 

The subject of this sketch was confirmed by his father, in 
St. Paul’s Church, York, at Easter, in 1880. His preparatory 








*Dr. Gotwald died suddenly of heart failure on Thursday night, 
February 4, 1926, at Harrisburg, Pa., where he had gone to spend the 
evening. 


180 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


education was secured in the York County Academy and York 
Collegiate Institute. He entered the Sophomore Class of Penn- 
sylvania College in the fall of 1885 and in December of 1885 
transferred to Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, and was 
eraduated in 1888. He studied theology at Wittenberg Seminary, 
eraduating in 1891. He took some post-graduate work in English 
and German Universities in 1899-1900. He holds the degrees of 
A.B., A. M. and B. D. from Wittenberg College and D. D. from 
Midland College. He was ordained in October, 1891, by the 
Miami Synod, in the First Lutheran Church of Dayton, Ohio, 
Where his father had been pastor from 1865 to 1869. Upon his 
removal to York, Pa., in 1904, his Synodical membership was 
transferred from the Miami Synod to the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, where it has been ever-since. 

He was organizer and first pastor of the Fifth Lutheran Church, 
Springfield Ohio, 1891-1896; of Calvary Lutheran Church, Spring- 
field, Ohio, 1900-1904 and of Trinity Lutheran Church, York, Pa., 
1913-1917. During these pastorates the congregations were pro- 
vided with buildings and self-supporting membership developed 
in each. 

His literary works have consisted of articles on historical, 
educational and churchly subjects, which have appeared in The 
Lutheran Quarterly, The Lutheran Church Review and in the 
publications of the Board of Education. In addition to the three 
pastorates served, he has been editor and manager of The Luth- 
eran World, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1895-1897; editor and manager of 
Lutheran Church Work, the official Weekly of the General Synod, 
1912-1916; editor and manager of Lutheran Church Work and 
Observer, 1916-1919; and manager of The Lutheran, 1919; Ex- 
ecutive Secretary of the Board of Education of the General Synod 
and of the United Lutheran Church in America since 1904. 

During his ministry he has been a member of the Board of 
Trustees of Wittenberg College, President of the State Luther 
League of Ohio, Secretary and President of the Miami Synod, 
President of the West Pennsylvania Synod and active in the Home 
Mission work of the York County Conference. 

He was married, June 10, 1897, to Miss Julia Agnes Small, of 
York, Pa., and lived from 1897 to 1904, in Springfield, Ohio, and 
since that date in York, Pa. There have been four children born 
to them; Luther Alexander, educated at Gettysburg College and 
Seminary and ordained by the West Pennsylvania Synod in 1921 
and now a Missionary in India; David E. §., educated at Gettys- 
burg College and now teaching in the York County Academy; 
Mary F.S8., now a student at Elmira College, Elmira, N. Y., and 
Julia 8., who died in infancy. 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 181 


REV. CHARLES Hi HUBER, Lrrr. D. 


Charles H. Huber, the son of 
Rev. Eli and Mary Ellen (Dei- 
bert) Huber, was born on June 
7, 1871, at Nebraska City, Neb. 
The early years of his father’s 
service in the ministry were 
spent in home missionary work 
on the western frontiers of our 
country. Later he occupied im- 
portant pastorates in Pennsyl- 
vania and gave the last years of 
his active life to the professor- 
ship of the English Bible at 
Pennsylvania College, Gettys- 
burg. 

The subject of our sketch re- 
celved his education in the pub- 
lic schools of Philadelphia, and 
after further preparatory train- 
ing at Gettysburg Academy he entered Gettysburg College in the 
fall of 1888. He was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1892. 
He completed his theological course in the Seminary at Gettys- 
burg in 1896, and in the same year was granted the degree of A. 
M. by his Alma Mater. He was honored with the degree of Doc- 
tor of Literature by Gettysburg College in 1914. He was licensed 
by the West Pennsylvania Synod at its meeting in Chambersburg 
in 1894 and ordained by the same Synod at Hanover in 1896. 

In the fall of 1892 he became an instructor in Gettysburg 
Academy; the following year he was made Vice-principal of the 
Academy, continuing at the same time his course of study at the 
Theological Seminary. With recognized ability as a teacher, when 
the office of Headmaster of the Academy became vacant in 1896 
he was elected to this important responsibility, and has continued 
to serve in this capacity until the present. Under his adminis- 
tration the Academy has made steady progress; the material 
equipment has been more than doubled, but the increase of ap- 
plications for enrollment has more than kept pace with the ac- 
commodations that have been added. <A sketch of the Academy’s 
history may be found on an earlier page of this volume. 

During the period of the World War he served as Chairman 
of the Adams County Committee of Public Defense; Chairman of 
the War Savings Committee; Chairman of the War Recreation 
Committee; and was a member of the Four Minute Men. 

He married Miss Louise Annan, of Beloit, Kansas; their 
children are Mrs. Elizabeth Annan Welch, of Philadelphia, Pa.; 
and Charles Henry Huber, Jr. 





182 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. HARVEY EDMUND BERKEY 


Harvey Edmund Berkey, son 
of Peter Franklin Berkey and 
Charlotte (Walker) Berkey was 
born near Jennerstown, Somer- 
set County, Pa. January 21 
1866. Confirmed, Christ Luth- 
eran Church, Jennerstown, Pa., 
1884. Farmer, cooper, public 
school teacher, traveling sales- 
man. Educated, public and lo- 
cal normal schools, Gettysburg 
Academy, 1887; Gettysburg Col- 
lege, class of 1892; Gettysburg 
Theological Seminary, 1895; post 
eraduate student, Erlangen, 1908, 
Leipzig, 1909. Licensed, Meyers- 
dale, 1894. Ordained, Somerset, 
1895. Married Miss Cora Eliza- 
beth Hartman, of near Gettys- 
burg, Pa., (Gettysburg College, class of 1894), June 18, 1895. 
Pastor at Red Lion, Pa., 1895-1901; Sharpsburg (Pittsburgh), 
1901-1903; Monongahela, 1903-1908; St. John’s, Baltimore, 1909- 
1910; Apollo, Pa., 1910-1914; Roaring Spring (Altoona), 1914-1921. 
Author: “Can the Church As Now Constituted Meet Present 
Demands?” (Lutheran Quarterly, Gettysburg, Pa., April 1902). 
Abstract of same article in Literary Digest, New York, June 14, 
1902; ‘‘Professor Hoskins on the Lutheran Church and the Refor- 
mation,’ (Lutheran Quarterly, October, 1907); ‘‘The Quin- 
Centenary Jubilee of Leipzig University,’? (Lutheran Quarterly, 
January, 1910); ‘““Tschackert vs. Richard on the ‘Augsburg Con- 
fess:on’’’ same “‘on the Lords Supper,” and ‘‘-on the Formula of 
Concord,” (Lutheran Observer, September 30, and October 7, and 
14, 1910); various articles in The Homiletic Review, New York, 
etc. Delegate to the General Synod, Des Moines, Iowa, 1901, 
Atchison, Kansas, 1913. President, Pittsburgh Synod, G. S., 
1912-1914. Address: Gettysburg, Pa. 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 183 


REV. CHARLES FINLEY SANDERS, D. D. 


Rev. C. F. Sanders was born 
at Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, on 
the 11th day of February, 1869. 
His childhood and youth were 
spent on his father’s farm; pre- 
pared for college at Central 
Pennsylvania College, New Ber- 
lin, Pennsylvania; taught public 
school for a year; graduated from 
Gettysburg College in 1892, and 
from the Seminary at Gettys- 
Pures in) 1895:*) Ay. vear. after 
leaving Seminary, Rev. Sanders 
took up his post graduate work 
under the direction of the Sem- 
inary and continued it for four 
years, receiving the post gradu- 
ate degree of B. D. in 1900. His 
zeal for an understanding of the 
rocts of religion and civilization generally, led him to supplement 
this work by further post-graduate work in the field of philosophy 
under the guidance of Dr. Stuckenberg. Finding that philosophy 
requires an understanding of pyschology, he got into contact with 
Professor William James and took up psychology. This pursuit 
of training came to its culmination in 1905 when he gave up his 
work and went to Leipzig to devote himself whelly to study. This 
period continued through three semesters. His work at Leipzig 
covered the following subjects: Psychology under Wundt, Phil- 
osophy under Heinze, Education under Volkelt, Systematic Theol- 
ogy under Ihmels, Christian Ethics under Kirn, History of Apos- 
tolic Age under Hauck. 

Rev. Sanders received the degree of A. B. upon graduation 
in 1892; A. M. in 1895; B. D. post-graduate in course in 1900; D. 
D. from Lafayette in 1913 (honorary). He is a member of the 
American Sociological Society; The American Association for the 
Advancement of Science; The American Association of College 
and University Professors; Phi Beta Kappa, and Kappa Phi Kappa. 

For a number of years Rev. Sanders was a regular contributor 
to the Lutheran Observer and to the Lutheran Quarterly. In 
1910 he published an English translation of Jerusalem’s Intro- 
duction to Philosophy. In 1912 he brought out a translation of 
H6ffding’s Brief History of Modern Philosophy. In 1918 he 
published a translation of Jerusalem’s Problems of the Secondary 
Teacher. 

Rev. Sanders was licensed to preach at Lewistown, Pa., by 
the Central Pennsylvania Synod in September, 1894; ordained by 





184 History oF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the Pittsburgh Synod in Bethany Church, Pittsburgh, in October, 
1895; transferred his synodical membership to the West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod in 1928. On December 27th, 1894, he married Miss 
Harriet EK. Hesson of Taneytown, Md. He entered upon his first 
charge, at Avonmore, Pennsylvania, on the first of June, 1895; 
in April, 1898, he accepted a call to Blairsville, Pa., where he 
remained seven years, severing his relation there to go to Europe 
for further study. He was President of the Pittsburgh Synod, 
1904-1905. 

During the Blairsville pastorate, Rev. Sanders was on the 
Faculty of Blairsville College for Women, teaching History of 
Philosophy, Logic, Sociology and Economics. Upon his return 
from Europe he was appointed Instructor in Mental Science at 
Pennsylvania College. The following year, 1907, the chair of 
Philosophy was established and he became the first Professor in 
the new chair, in which capacity he is still serving the institution. 
During this period he started the work in the department of Edu- 
cation which has recently been separated into a distinct depart- 
ment of the College. He also started the work in the field of 
commerce and business administration which was soon turned over 
to the department of Economics. In 1922 he organized the Gettys- 
burg College Summer School and continues to be its Director. 
He is now under appointment for the organization of a new course 
in Freshman orientation for the College. For this course he will 
bring out a new Syllabus. 

Since his appointment in College, Professor Sanders has done 
considerable preaching and lecturing on the Gettysburg territory. 
During the War period he served the Y. M. C. A. for two periods 
as Camp Lecturer, visiting the camps about Norfolk and at 
Petersburg, Va. 


MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 185 


REV. SYLVESTER CLARK BURGER 


Sylvester Clark Burger was 
born January 24, 1870, at Quin- 
cy, Pa., the son of Gideon and 
Lavina Burger. He was_ bap- 
tized and confirmed by the Rev. 
P. Bergstresser, D. D. 

After a course of preparatory 
studies he entered Pennsylvania 
College at Gettysburg, gradu- 
ating with the class of 1895. 
His theological education follow- 
ed, in the three year course at 
the Gettysburg Theological Sem- 
inary of the Lutheran Church, 
from which he was graduated in 
the spring of 1898. He received 
the degree of A. B. at graduation, 
and the degree of A. M. in 1898 
from his Alma Mater, Pennsyl- 
vania College. 

He was ordained to the gospel ministry by the West Penn- 
sylvania Synod at Hanover, 1898. 

Immediately after his graduation from the Theological Sem- 
inary, he received and accepted a call to go as a foreign missionary 
to India, setting sail from New York City in October, 1898, and 
arriving at his field of service in India in December of the same 
year. 

During the years since that time he has been doing faithful 
and valuable service under our Foreign Mission Board, giving all 
of his ministerial life to the self-sacrificing work of evangelizing 
the people of India. He has served in various capacities and in 
several districts, as the particular needs of the mission work seemed 
to demand; first, in the Boys’ Boarding School and Seminary at 
Guntur; then as a missionary in the Tenali District; then Tenali- 
Bapatla; and at the present writing he is stationed at the Hermans- 
burg Mission. 

In 1901 he was united in marriage with Miss Magdalen 
Keith, of Gettysburg, Pa. A son, Keith Burger, was born to 
them, at Guntur, India, on January 12, 1903. 





186 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rivers ROY sab ROGIS 


I was born about two miles 
from Churchtown (Allen P. O.), 
Cumberland Co., Pa., on June 
8, 1882, my parents being Mr. 
and Mrs. George Wood Strock. 
My mother’s maiden name was 
Herman, and she is the eldest 
daughter of the late Mr. George 
T. B. Herman, for many years 
an active member of the First 
Lutheran Church, Carlisle, Pa. 

My earliest recollection of 
Church services and Sunday 
School goes back to the Lutheran 
Church at Churchtown, of which 
the Rev. Mr. Fleck was then 
pastor. We moved to Carlisle 
when I was about ten years of 
age and joined the First Lutheran 
Church. I was confirmed in this Church at Easter in 1898 by 
the Rev. Henry Barr Wile, D. D., our pastor, and I may say that 
the short prayer that he offered as he placed his hands upon my 
head in the confirmation service had a very great influence upon 
me and contributed at least to some extent to my deciding within 
the next two years to devote my life to the Christian ministry. 

From ‘‘the little red school house’ between Beiling Springs 
cand Lutztown, Cumberland County, I entered the public schools 
of Carlisle and was graduated from the High School in 1898. 
After a year in Dickinson Preparatory School I was admitted to 
Dickinson College and secured my A. B. degree from that insti- 
tution in 1903. I was also elected a member of the Phi Beta 
Kappa Society. My other Greek letter affilations are with 
Kappa Sigma. 

After teaching for two years in Perkiomen School, Pemsburg, 
Pa., I entered the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and was 
eraduated with the B. D. degree in 1908. The same year I se- 
cured my A. M. degree from Dickinson College. In 1917 I pur- 
sued a special course in Teachers College, Columbia University. 

I was appointed as a missionary to India in April, 1908, and 
sailed from New York in September, arriving in Guntur on the 
Ist of November, 1908. During the summer of 1908 I served as 
pastor of the York-Haven-Goldsboro charge in York County. 

I was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at its regular 
meeting in 1907. My ordination took place in the First Lutheran 
Church, Carlisle, Pa., Dr. G. M. Diffenderfer, Pastor, at a special 
meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod on the 3rd of September, 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 187 


1908. Dr. T. T. Everett, President of the Synod, preached the 
Ordination sermon. I was commissioned as a missionary at the 
same service by Dr. Luther Kuhlman, President of the Board of 
Foreign Missions. 

In 1911, Miss Elizabeth M. Evans (Ph. B. and A. M., Dick- 
inson College, and a graduate of the West Chester State Normal 
School) came to India to become my bride, and we were married 
in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Guntur, on November 9, 
1911, in the presence of the missionaries and a churchful of Indian 
students and friends. 

In India I have held the following positions since passing the 
Telugu examinations: A. E. L. M. College, Guntur—Vice-Prin- 
cipal and Lecturer, 1909-13; Principal, 1913-16; 1919-22; in charge 
of the Palnad Field, 1918-19; Noble College, Masulipatam, Act- 
ing Principal, 1922-1924; Convener, Board for Examinations of 
the Madras Representative Council of Missions, 1)21-24; Member 
of the Executive Committee of the Missionary Educationa! 
Council of South India, 1921-24; Recording Secretary, Guntur 
Mission Conference, 1910-1912; Corresponding Secretary, Guntur 
Mission Conference, 1918-1921; President, Guntur Synod, 1918- 
1919; Secretary, Guntur-Rajahmundry Joint Conference, 1920- 
1921; President, Council of the India Mission, 1922-1923; Member 
of the Senate of the University of Madras, 1923-1924; Member of 
the Academie Council and of the Council of Affihated Colleges, 
University of Madras, 1923-1924. 


REV. WILLIAM C. ERNEY 


Rev. William C. Erney, the 
eldest child of John and Christi- 
anna Erney, was born August 4, 
1875, near Newberrytown, York 
County, Pennsylvania. After at- 
tending the public schools of his 
neighborhood he entered the 
York County Academy and pre- 
pared for College. 

On March 25, 1894, he was 
confirmed in St. Peter’s Lutheran 
church, the Rev. T. Bahn Thom- 
as, pastor; but later became a 
member of St. Paul’s Lutheran 
Church, York, Pennsylvania, the 
Rev. William 8. Freas, D. D., 
then pastor. 

Entering Susquehanna Univer- 
sity in 1896 he found, however, 





188 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


at the close of the Freshman year that ill health would prevent 
a further continuance of study. Later, under the tutorship of 
the Rev. C. E. Walter, D. D., pastor of St. Paul’s Church, he was 
prepared and accordingly licensed at the meeting of West Penn- 
sylvania Synod held in Zion Lutheran Church, York, in 1918. 
The following year he was ordained at the meeting of the same 
Synod held in St. Matthew’s Church, Hanover, Pennsylvania. 

He served the ‘‘Calvary Charge of Carroll County,” Alesia, 
Maryland, from December 2, 1917, to December 16, 1923. Since 
retiring from active work he has supplied various pulpits in and 
around York. After conducting the East York-Elmwood census 
he was actively engaged during the summer of 1924 in the organ- 
ization of the Advent Lutheran Sunday School of East York. 

On November 10, 1898, Rev. Erney was united in marriage 
to Miss Anna J. Conway, of York, Pennsylvania. 


REVeMARTIN GeiU Distie 


The subject of this sketch, the 
son of Emmanuel and Leah 
(Spangler) Rudisill, was born 
near Gettysburg, Pa., June 18, 
1860. He was baptized in in- 
fancy, and received into com- 
municant membership in St. 
Luke’s Lutheran Church by con- 
firmation in the year 1875 by 
Rev. E. J. Metzler. 

He received his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of 
Adams County, and entered Get- 
tvsburg Seminary in September, 
1902. 

In January, 1898, he married 
Miss Addie Alice Young, daugh- 
ter of Mrs. Cynthia Young. The 
ceremony was performed. by the 
Rev. T. J. Barkley, D. D., pastor of the Reformed Church of 
Gettysburg, Pa. To this union two daughters were born, Ruth 
Alverta and Esther Cynthia Leah. 

His early pastoral service was in the ministry of the United 
Brethren Church. He was licensed by Bishop Mills, October 16, 
1903. In 1906 he received a call to the United Brethren Church 
of New Paris, Pa., and entered upon his work there December 10. 
His next charge was the pastorate of the U. B. Church of Sabillas- 
ville, Md., where he began his work in September, 1910. 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 189 


He was ordained as a minister of the Lutheran Church, De- 
cember 4, 1918, by the Maryland Synod, Rev. U.S. G. Rupp, D. 
D., President. In 1917 he accepted a call to Trinity Lutheran 
Church, Needsmore, W. Va., where he continued to serve until 
November 1, 1921, at which time he entered upon the duties of 
the Upper Frankford Pastorate of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 
Ul health compelled his relinquishment of the active pastorate, 
and he resigned March 1, 1923, since which time he has been 
engaged in pulpit supply service as his health would permit. 


REV. JAMES RUSSELL FINK* 


James Russell Fink was born April 2, 1896, in North York, 
Pa. His parents are John Edward and Sadie Alice Fink. Mr. 
Fink’s parents moved from North York to the country when he 
was a small boy. Thus he was reared on the farm at Round- 
town, Manchester Twp., York County. 

His parents were members of Quickel’s Church, Zions View, 
Pa. Thus he was nurtured from infancy to manhood by Dr. Adam 
Stump, who was the pastor of the Quickel’s Charge for some 
33 years. He was baptized and confirmed by Dr. Stump. He 
was confirmed Nov. 138, 1910. 

Mr Fink went to the village school at Roundtown until he 
was 14 years of age. At the earnest desire of his pastor, and the 
eagerness of his parents to prepare for college, he began his prep- 
aration in the year 1911 at the York County Academy under the 
supervision of Prof. Gardner. In the fall of 1913 he entered 
Gettysburg College with the distinct purpose to prepare for the 
ministry. He graduated from that institution in the spring of 
1917. He then entered the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, 
and graduated with the degree of B. D., in the spring of 1920. 

He was licensed at the meeting of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod in Hanover, October 15, 1919; was ordained October 14, 
1920, at First Church, Chambersburg. The ordination sermon 
was preached by Dr. G. A. Getty of Zion Lutheran Church, York, 
Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Fink had become members of Zion Lutheran 
Church, York, because they were undertaking their support as 
their Foreign Missionaries in India. So it particularly was ap- 
propriate that their own pastor should be called upon to preach 
the ordination sermon. 

On the 11th of October, 1920, Mr. and Mrs. Fink were com- 
missioned as missionaries to India at the United Lutheran Con- 
vention which was held in Washington, D. C. The sermon was 
preached by the late Dr. Brown. Setting sail for India on the 


*See picture on page 685. 


190 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


23d of November, 1920, they arrived on the Mission Field, Jan- 
uary 4, 1921. 

The first year in Guntur was given to studying Telugu, and 
teaching Bible in the College. In the second year they were 
associated with Rev. Dunkelberger in the work at Sattenapall. 
After passing the second examination in Telugu, Mr. Fink was 
given full charge of the Sattenapalli Meld. He has in his charge 
one Boarding School and a Higher Elementary School. In ad- 
dition to the station work, he has 120 congregations to shepherd. 
Some of the congregations have over 500 baptized members. He 
has a hard work and too much for any single missionary to do real 
intensive missionary work. He had over 400 baptisms during 
the year 1923, and visited 1438 villages. 

Mr Fink was married to Fairy Leona Fink of Manchester, 
Pa., on June 9, 1920. Their union has been blessed by the birth 
of one child, Mary Elizabeth. 


REV, LUTHER A. GOTWALD 


On July 28, 1898, in Spring- 
field, Ohio, Luther Alexander 
Gotwald, was born, the first 
child of Frederick G. and Julia 
Small Gotwald. He was _ bap- 
tized by his grandfather, Rev. 
Luther A. Gotwald, D. D. on 
November 20, 1898, for whom 
also he was named. 

The first six years of his life 
were spent in Springfield, but 
in 1904 his parents moved to 
York, Pennsylvania. Here he 
attended St. John’s Lutheran 
Parochial School, the York Col- 
legiate Institute, and the York 
County Academy, for his ele- 
mentary and high school. educa- 
tion. In St. Paul’s Lutheran 
Church, York, on April 9, 1911, he was confirmed by the Pastor, 
Rev. C. E. Walter, D. D. After finishing his schooling in York, 
he entered Gettysburg College, and graduated in 1918, with an 
A. B. degree. After a very short period of service in the U. 8. 
Army, he attended the Lutheran Theological Seminary, at Gettys- 
burg, and in 1921 graduated with the B. D. degree. 

At the meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod in Hanover, 
in October, 1920, he was licensed for the gospel ministry. He 





MINISTERS WITHOUT CHARGES 191 


thus became the fourth generation in the Gotwaid family, to enter 
the gospel ministry; all of whom, at one time or other, were mem- 
bers of the West Pennsylvania Synod, and his grandfather and 
father were Presidents of this Synod. On July 29, 1921, at a 
special meeting of Synod, called at Trinity Lutheran Church, 
York, Pa., he was ordained to the gospel ministry by the officers 
of Synod, and was commissioned as a Foreign Missionary, by 
representatives of the Foreign Mission Board of the U. L. C. 

Sailing from the United States, about two months later, he 
and his wife reached Guntur, India, on December 1, 1921. They 
are at present stationed at Guntur, where he has charge of the 
College and High School Hostel, and also has teaching work in 
the College. 

On July 27th, 1921, in Morgantown, W. Va., he was united 
in marriage to Ethel Grace, the daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Will 
F. Bare. Two children, Frederick G. and Emily Irene, have been 
born in India, to bless their home. 


192 HISTORY OF WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The arrangement of the following chapters is first in alpha- 
betical order of the Conferences and then in the same order of 
the Charges in each Conference and then in the same order of the 
Churches of each Charge. 


Nearly all of the biographical and historical sketches have 
been furnished by the pastors of the various Charges and accord- 
ing to the action of the Synod in 1923 (Minutes, p. 85) ‘‘contain 
such items as dates and circumstances of organization, securing 
charters, lists and lengths of pastorates, facts in connection with 
buildings, any special activities of the congregations, or items of 
unusual interest which bear upon the general history of the Syn- 
od;”’ together with ‘whatever biographical mention of former 
pastors may be desired by the congregations.”’ 


CHAPTER XVI 
ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE 
REV. PAUL GLADFELTER 


(Pastor oF ABBOTTSTOWN CHARGE.) 


Paul Gladfelter, son of Henry 
S. Gladfelter and his wife, A- 
manda Jane, was born in York 
County, Pennsylvania, on the 
16th day of January, 1882. His 
early life was spent on the farm 
toiling early and late. He at- 
tended the country school from 
the age of six to fourteen years. 
Hearing the call to the Christian 
ministry very early, he entered 
the Glenville Academy in the 
fall of 1898, preparing for Gettys- 
burg College. At the age of 
eighteen years he entered Gettys- 
burg College, graduating in the 
spring of 1904, and from the 
Gettysburg Theological Semi- 
nary in 1907. 

He was ordained to the ministry by the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, meeting at Carlisle, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, in the fall of 1907. 

His first charge, which he accepted while still in the Seminary, 
was the Green Hill Charge of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 
Here he remained until October 1, 1910. 

On the 18th of June, 1907, he was married to Miss Amy 
Blanche Bailey. One daughter, Marguerite Rozella, was born to 
the union. 

Having received a call from the York Springs Charge, he 
resigned the Green Hill Charge and became Pastor at York 
Springs October Ist, 1910. Here he labored in the Master’s vine- 
yard until August 15, 1920, when he resigned to accept a call to 
the Abbottstown Charge, taking up his work there August. 16, 
1920. 

Thus far his entire ministry has been spent in the West 
Pennsylvania Synod, and being a son of the Synod, his education 
kas been acquired and his life thus far spent on the territory of 
old West Pennsylvania Synod. 


193 





194 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST. JOHN’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF 
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA. 


(Abbottstown Charge) 
Rev. PauL GLADFELTER, PASTOR 





ST. JOHN’S oie CHURCH, ABBOTTSTOWN, PA. 


The early history of this memorable congregation must of 
necessity be very meagre, owing to the fact that the first records 
were destroyed by fire, as will be recounted further on. The 
history up to the year 1829 will, therefore, not be absolutely 
authentic, inasmuch as it can be only traditional. 

So far as known, this congregation is an offspring of St. 
Matthew’s of Hanover. The first services were held in a small 
log school house located at the present entrance to the cemetery. 
Sometime between 1760 and 1770 a weather-boarded log edifice 
was erected, which structure remained until destroyed by fire in 
1829. On June 11, 1830 the cornerstone of the new brick struc- 
ture was laid with appropriate ceremonies, the following ministers 
being present: Rev. Jonathan Ruthrauff, Pastor; Rev. J. G. 
schmucker; OP IDiay ork Ba. Rev... Oswald, iby, 18) , York, Was: 
Rev. A. H. Lochman, Harrisburg, Pa.; Rev. Charles Schaeffer, 
Philadelphia, Pa.; Rev. 8. Gutelin, Hanover, Pa.; and Fernand 
Edward Vandersloot. 

So far as we are able to gain information, the following named 


ApDAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 195 


pastors served this congregation: Rev. George Bayer, 1768-76; 
Rev. Schraeder, 1780-87; Rev. ...... Grob, 1788-99; Rev. ...... 
Rabenack, 1804-05; Rev....... Raymond, 1807-19; Rev. J. 
Meltzheimer, 1820-24; Rev. Jonathan Ruthrauff, 1829-36; Rev. 
Leonard Gearhart, 1837-38; Rev. Peter Scheurer, 1839-42; Rev. 
William Heiling, 1842-45; Rev. Charles Witmer, 1846-50; Rev. 
Leonard Gephart, 1850-61; Rev. Daniel J. Hauer, D. D., 1862-72; 
Rev. Michael Snyder, 1873-77; Rev. M. Alleman, time not known; 
Rev. D. Sell, time not known; Rev. 8. P. Orwig, ....1884; Rev. 
John Tomlinson, 1884-92; Rev. R. H. Clare, D. D., 1892-1908; 
Rev. A. C. Forscht, Ph. D., 1908-1911; Rev. F. C. Sternat, 1911- 
1920; Rev. Paul Gladfelter, 1920— 

It is to be noted that of all those who served this congregation 
as pastor all have fallen upon sleep except the last two. 

In 1890 the 1830 edifice was razed and replaced by the present 
one at an approximate cost of $13000. 

This congregation has established quite an enviable record 
for itself, particularly in view of the fact that it is but a rural 
congregation, by dedicating the following to the gospel ministry: 
Rev. Lewis Henry Baugher, 2nd President of Gettysburg College; 
Rev. Samuel Henry, deceased; Rev. J. B. Wolff, deceased; Rev. 
L. B. Wolff, Secretary of U. L. C. Foreign Mission Board; Rev. 
Howard Heilman, Joliet, Ill.; Rev. A. M. Heilman, Chicago, IIL; 
Rev. William Jordy, New York; Rev. Adtkin Wolf, Silver Run, 
Maryland; Rev. H. D. Hoover, President of Carthage College, 
Ill.; Rev. H. E. Clare, deceased; Rev. R. D. Clare, Baltimore, 
Md.; Rev. M. L. Clare, Apollo, Pa.; Rev. N. 8. Wolf, Blooms- 
burg, Pa. 

There is reason for pride also in calling attention to William 
Bittinger, who endowed a chair of philosophy in Gettysburg 
College. 

This congregation has always been in a flourishing condition, 
and the adoption of the Duplex Envelope System has placed the 
finances upon a very permanent working basis, this congregation 
in 1924 was the first in the West Pennsylvania Synod to meet its 
benevolence apportionment. 


196 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH AT EAST 
BERLIN, PA. 


(ABBOTTSTOWN CHARGE) 


Rev. PAuL GLADFELTER, PASTOR 


The first record we have 
of Trinity Evangelical Luth- 
eran Church is in 1811, 
When a small company of 
men met and organized for 
the purpose of circulating 
a subscription paper to se- 
cure means to build a union 
church, the size and mater- 
ial to be determined by the 
majority of the subscribers. 

The name of this organi- 
zation was “The Lutheran 
and Presbyterian Society.”’ 


The fund secured at that 
time was insufficient, but a 
beginning was made and 
the structure partly erected. 
This evidently was the be- 
ginning of the old union 
church which stood in the 

Trinity LUTHERAN CHURCH corner of the present union 
EAst BERLIN, PA. cemetery of East Berlin. 

Sometime thereafter the records speak of the German Re- 
formed Church and it is possible that they purchased the Presby- 
terian share; or, maybe, were one and the same thing all the 
time. The record is not clear. 

The building remained in this unfinished condition for some 
years, just exactly how long cannot be ascertained. 

Tradition says that a Rev. Speck was the first pastor, at 
least associated with this congregation in the beginning of its 
history. How long he was connected with the organization we 
do not know. 

Some time in the year 1822, or possibly before and during 
Rev. Speck’s pastorate, the church building seems to have been 
completed. (Tradition says that the partly completed building 
was used for a sheep fold for a number of years). 

An organization was effected by the adoption of a consti- 
tution and regulations for the government of the church, and in 
connection therewith the Rev. Jacob Albert appears as pastor. 





ADAMS CoUNTY CONFERENCE 197 


Thereafter the congregation seems to have had a slow but 
steady growth until 1887, when the old building, badly in need 
of repair and no longer adapted to the needs of the congregations, 
now Lutheran and Reformed, was considered unsafe for continued 
use. 


A movement was inaugurated by Rev. John Tomlinson, the 
pastor, and Rev. G. W. McSherry, a son of the congregation, for 
a new church structure. Accordingly the Lutheran congregation 
sold their share of the old church to the Reformed congregation 
for the amount of $250.00. The membership at this time was 
about seventy-five in good standing; and while the membership 
was small, the people had a “‘mind to build.” . 


The congregation agreed that a definite amount, which was 
named, must be procured in GOOD subscriptions before building 
operations should begin. This was speedily done, and the present 
site of church was purchased. The service for the corner-stone 
laying took place on the 20th day of May, 1888; and the dedi- 
catory service took place on the 26th day of May, 1889. 


From this time on the church had a steady growth. The 
following pastors served the congregations: 


Rev. Speck, 1811-1822; 

Rev. Jacob Albert, 1822-1828; 

Rey. Andrew Deininger, October, 1828-1853; 
Rev. Leonard Gerhart, May, 1853-1861; 
Rey. Dr. D. J. Hauer, September, 1861-1873; 
Rev. Micholl Snyder, November, 1873-1877; 
Rev. M. Alleman, May, 1878-1879; 

Rev. 8S. P. Orwig, May, 1879-1885; 

Rey. John Tomlinson, March, 1885-1892; 
Rev. Dr. R. H. Clare, July, 1892-1908; 

Rev. A. C. Forscht, Ph. D., 1908-1911; 

Rev. F. C. Sternat, 1911-1920; 

Rev. Paul Gladfelter, August, 1920-. 


The following men have entered the Christian ministry from 
Trinity, East Berlin, Pa.: Revs. George W. McSherry, Charles 
M. Eyster, David Lau, J. B. Lau, Irvin M. Lau and Jacob M. 
Spangler. 


198 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. GEORGE «By ELY 
‘(PASTOR OF THE ARENDTSVILLE CHARGE) 


Rev. George B. Ely was born 
in Hegins, Pa. He was educated 
at the following schools: Millers- 
ville Normal, Chautauqua As- 
sembly, N. Y., Muhlenburg Col- 
lege and Gettysburg Theological 
Seminary. Rev. Ely taught in 
the public school, High School, 
and at the Keystone and Cum- 

_berland Valley State Normal 
Schools thru a period of fifteen 
years. By this method he earned 
his money to pay his way thru 
the schools. 

He was married to Miss Caro- 
line V. Hoy, of Bellefonte, Pa. 
They have three children, Doro- 
thy H.)) 12;-Louise?) Cr Sean 
George W., 4. 

His first charge was at Turbotville, Pa., where he stayed 10 
years; after which he went to Arendtsville where he has been for 
one and a half years. 

The West Pennsylvania Synod licensed Rev. Ely at York, 
Pa., in 1912, and he was ordained at Jersey Shore by the Susque- 
hanna Synod in 1914. 





FLOHR’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, ADAMS CoO., PA. 
(ARENDTSVILLE CHARGE) 


Rev. GrorGce B. Ey, Pastor 


The History of Flohr’s Church dates back to 1822, when the 
two churches (Lutheran and Reformed) entered on a work of 
erecting a house of worship. In 1875 the Lutheran Church, 
which owned an interest in Flohr’s Church with the Reformed up 
to that time, purchased the latter’s interest for $400, and the 
Lutherans bought the lot on which the church stood for $25. On 
the same site the present Lutheran Church now stands, half way 
between McKnightstown and Cashtown. Some of the original 
documents belonging to the Lutheran Church were destroyed in 
the rebel invasion of 18638, hence the date of organization and 
names of the original members are unknown. The date of the 
building of the first church is also unknown. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 199 


The second church was built of brick where the present 
church now stands.. It was dedicated in 1822 and used, as al- 
ready stated, by the Reformed and Lutheran denominations until 
1875. The present church was erected in 1875-76, and dedicated 
in the latter year. 

Following are the names of the pastors of Flohr’s Church: 
Revs. John Herbst, Charles Weyle, Frederick Ruthrauff, Ben- 
jamin Keller, George Roth, L. J. Bell, J. K. Miller, Michael Sny der, 
H. IF. Long, D. M. Blackwelder, Dr. David T. Koser and George 
Bakily: 


Ls 


TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, ARENDTSVILLE, PA. 
(ARENDTSVILLE CHARGE.) 


Rev. Greorce B. Evy, Pastor 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH AND PARSONAGE 
ARENDTSVILLE, PA. 


The vicinity of Arendtsville was settled between 1736 and 
1740 by “Scotch Irish,’’ Presbyterians and afterward by Germans 
from York, Lancaster and other sections. The German settlers 
were, as a rule, members of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. 

“The exact date of church organization at Arendtsville is 
not known, but likely occurred about 1780 or 1785.” The fol- 
lowing is from the pen of Rev. A. J. Heller: ‘‘A lot of ground was 
conveyed, April 30, 1781, by Sophie Sentmier and Jacob Arendt 
to Frederick Stanour and Phillip Hartzell, trustees of the Lutheran 


200 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


and Reformed Congregations, on which a church was erected in 
1787. This lot was situated in Cumberland Township, York 
County, on the waters of the Great Conowago, now the central 
part of the town. The church was a log building, weather- 
boarded. It was two stories, having galleries on three sides. The 
pulpit was in the shape of a barrel, and set against the wall. The 
altar was enclosed by a chancel railing. 

“Tt stood on the north east corner of the square, opposite 
the present church building. A school and sexton house then 
stood where the present church stands. In 1851 the foundation 
of a new church was dug on the site of the old school and sexton 
house, the corner stone being laid May 15th, and the church dedi- 
cated on Christmas day of the same year. 

“The Reformed and Lutheran Congregations built this church 
jointly and called it Zion. This Zion Church was 55 x 42 feet in 
dimension and was built of brick. It was two stories with galleries 
on three sides. Its pulpit was without sounding board and was 
modern in style. The altar was without chancel railing, and every 
part of the interior is destitute of all ornament and was made in 
the plainest possible manner. 

“No steeple or cupola indicated to the stranger the sacredness 
of the edifice, and no church bell here ever called together devout 
worshipers.’ 

The following ministers have served the Lutheran Congrega- 
tions in both church buildings, viz: Rev. Metzheimer, 1816; Revs. 
Heiney and John Herbst, 1819; Rev. Charles Weyle, 1830; Rev. 
Frederick Ruthrauff, 1832; Rev. Benjamin Keller, 1836; Rev. A. 
R. Height, 1857 from spring to fall; Rev. George Roth, 1857; 
Rev. S. J. Bell, 1858; Rev. J. K. Miller, 1860; Rev. Michael 
Snyder, 1866; Rev. H. F. Long, 1878; and Rev. D. M. Black- 
welder, 1877. The years given indicate the beginning pastorate. 

For many years, up to June 24, 1873, both congregations, 
jointly used the same church record. The first recorded com- 
munion was held by the Lutherans on May 9th, 1790. Through 
its whole past history of about one hundred years the Lutheran 
congregation has been blessed with a good share of prosperity. 

Inasmuch as Zion Church needed repairs and as there was 
no disposition to repair it as a union church; and inasmuch as 
the doctrines held and taught and the usages practised in the 
two denominations had, through the introduction of Nevinism 
and semi-Romanism made them so diverse in sentiment and in 
feeling; therefore, a prevailing desire had been felt and expressed 
by the Lutherans to have their own house of worship. 

This desire assumed shape during the years 1880 and 1881 
and resulted in a successful effort to build a new church suitable 
to meet the growing necessities. In the early spring of 1881 the 
Lutheran congregation sold out its half interest in all the union 
church property to the Reformed Congregation, for eleven hun- 


ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 201 


dred dollars and began to build Trinity Lutheran Church of 
Arendtsville, adjoining the parsonage on High Street on a site 
secured from Elias Spangler for one hundred and fifty dollars. 

In the erection of the new Lutheran Church, Daniel Arendt, 
Soloman Hartman, Elias Spangler and Isaac Byers composed the 
subscription soliciting committee; while Peter Taylor, Henry 
Beamer, John F. Bushey, John Frank Hartman and Michael Rice 
composed the building committee. The contracting mechanics 
were all from the Lutheran Congregation and were George W. 
Lady, mason; Amos H. Lady, carpenter; John Jacobs, plasterer; 
and George H. Grammer, painter. The great mass of the mem- 
bership gave money, labor and material liberally. 

The first congregational meeting for the consideration of 
the building of the new church was held in Zion Church, February 
6, 1881. 

Ground foundation was broken May 14, 1881. 

The sermon was preached in Zion Church by Rev. M. J. 
Alleman. The corner stone was laid by the Pastor, Rev. D. M. 
Blackwelder. 

The first sermon was preached by the pastor in the lecture 
room on Sunday, June 11th, 1882. 

The building was finished by the Committee on September 
ZL S82: 

The new church was dedicated as Trinity Evangelical Luth- 
eran Church of Arendtsville, Adams County, Pa., on October 22, 
1882. 

The President of West Pennsylvania Synod, Rev. A. 8. Hart- 
man of Chambersburg, preached on Saturday evening previous 
and on Sunday morning, Rev. F. W. Conrad, D. D., Editor of the 
Lutheran Observer, preached the dedication sermon and in the 
evening Rev. Dr. Joel Swartz of St. James’, Gettysburg, delivered 
the closing sermon. The ground and building cost about $8000. 
Of this amount $1500 was raised on the day of dedication and the 
church and all it contained was consecrated to God free of debt. 

The pastors of Trinity Lutheran Church have been as follows: 

Rev. D. M. Blackwelder, June 15, 1877 to March 31, 1887; 
Rev. David T. Koser, D. D., May 1, 1887 to May 1, 1928. During 
Dr. Koser’s pastorage Trinity Lutheran Church built a new par- 
sonage in 1915 at an expense of $3500. 

Rev. H. E. Berkey, May 1, 1923 to December 5, 1923; Rev 
George B. Ely, December 5, 1923-. 

Trinity Lutheran Church built in the year 1924 a modern 
Sunday School building adjoining the church at a cost of $4500. 
A heating plant was installed for the church and Sunday School 
buildings at a cost of $8000. Electric lights were also installed 
at a cost of $400. Also several other minor improvements so 
that altogether the new building and improvements amounted to 
about $8000. 


202 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


More extensive improvements are under consideration and 
as soon as the work is finished there will be a dedication and re- 
dedication service held. 


REV OLIVER D. COBLE 


(PASTOR OF THE BENDERSVILLE CHARGE) 


Rey. Oliver D. Coble was born 
in Allegheny, Pa., August 2nd, 
~ 1898. His parents, J. A. Coble 
and Susie Kistler, were born and 
raised in Franklin County, Cham- 
.bersburg, R. D. No..6. In 1900 
his parents moved to the country 
near Lemaster where they are 
still living. : 
In 1916 he graduated from 
Lemaster High School and the 
following year from Chambers- 
burg High School. He entered 
Gettysburg College in the fall of 
1917, and graduated in the spring 
of 1921 with the A. B. degree. 
Three years later he graduated 
from the Theological Seminary 
— at Gettysburg and received di- 
ploma; and at the graduation exercises of Gettysburg College in 
the spring of 1924 received degree of A. M. 


During the summer of 1922, he supplied the Union Deposit 
Charge, consisting churches at Union Deposit, Hoernerstown, and 
Sand Hull, Pa.; and durmg the summer of 1923 he supplied the 
Rossville Charge of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 

Upon graduating from Seminary in the spring of 1924, he 
assumed charge of the Bendersville Charge, consisting Of Bethle- 
hem, St. James’, and Christ’s Churches. 

He was vateraate June 28th, 1925, to Miss Hazel Maude Van 
Dyke, of Gettysburg, Pa. 





ADAMS: CouNTY CONFERENCE 203 


OED RUE ee LUTHERAN CHURCH IN BENDERSVILLE, 
PENNSYLVANIA 


(BENDERSVILLE CHARGE) 


Rev. Outiver D. Cosue, Pastor 





BETHLEHEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, BENDERSVILLE, PA. 


Among those who early settled in the upper end of what is 
now Adams county were a number of German families, Lutheran 
and German Reformed. These people gathered at school houses 
at several places and were served with preaching at irregular in- 
tervals by pastors from Petersburg, now York Springs. This was 
before 1835. 

On the 2nd of April, 1836, a congregation was organized in 
Baldwin’s school house in what is now Wenksville, by Rev. Daniel 
Gotwald, pastor at York Springs. This was doubtless a preaching 
place for some time previous to this, for an election for officers 
was held previously for elders and deacons at this place on March 
5th, 1836. 

A number of those who entered into the organization at 
Baldwin’s school house later withdrew and organized the Bethle- 
hem congregation. This was effected on the 27th of December, 
1840, under the supervision of Rev. C. Wyle, who was pastor at 
York Springs. At the same time an election was held and those 
elected were installed into office by Rev. Weyl; elders, Peter Rice 
and David Meals; deacons, John Weigle, Sr., and Jonas Routsong. 
There must have been a Reformed congregation in existence about 
the same time, and the affairs of the two congregations in those 


204 HistorRY OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


early days must have been jointly administered, for on the 11th 
day of February, 1844, officers were elected for the German Re- 
formed and Lutheran congregations and installed by Rev. John 
G. Fritchey, Refd. pastor. The membership of either congre- 
gation at this time must have been small for under date of June 
Ist, 1844, is this record: ‘‘The following persons reported them- 
selves as members of the two congregations: Peter Rice, G. R. 
(German Refd.) Elizabeth Rice, L. (Lutheran) John Rice, Jr., G. 
R., Peter Rice, L.,; Susan Rice, G. R., Daniel Plank, L., John 
Eppleman, G. R., Jane Eppleman, G. R., Henry Eppleman G. R., 
Leah Eppleman, L., Henry Crum, G. R., Judith Crum, L., John 
Christ, L., Jacob Eppleman, G. R., Eve Crist, L., Elizabeth 
Crist, L., Sarah Crist, L., John Tazer, G. R., Mary Magd Tazer, 
G. R., John Weigle, L., Mary Weigle, L., Daniel Hertzel, G. R.., 
Frederick Hertzel, G. R.” 

After Rev. Wyle left York Springs, Rev. John Ulrick became 
pastor there and began also to preach at Bendersville. Rev. John 
G. Fritchey was pastor of the German Refd. congregation. This 
was about 1842 or 1848. Soon after the question of a church 
building began to agitate the minds of the people of the two con- 
gregations. This project took definite shape late in 1844 or early 
in 1845. A meeting was called and the following record appears, 
without any date, however: 


“Bethlehem Church at Bendersville, Pa. 

“The Members of the Lutheran and German Reformed 
congregations in and around Bendersville, finding it rather in- 
convenient to their former place of worship upon several consul- 
tations to have a church erected in their midst 1t was agreed upon 
to erect a house to the honor and glory of God in the villaze of 
Bendersville in which they and their families might worship the 
common Father.” 


The ground on which the church is erected was presented to 
both congregations by Messrs. Charles Myers and Jonas Rout- 
song. The corner stone of the aforesaid church was solemnly 
laid in the presence of a crowded assembly on Whit-Monday, 
May 12th, 1845. The ministers present on the occasion were 
Rev. John Ulrick, Lutheran, Revs. J. G. Fritchey and C. F. 
Hoffmier, Reformed. An interesting item is the copy of the in- 
strument of writing inclosed in the cornerstone: | 

“In the name and through the assistance of God, Amen. 


“On Whit-Monday the 12th day of May in the year of our 
Lord 1845, and the 70th of the independence of the United States, 
his excellency James K. Polk, Pres. of the same and his excellency 
Francis R. Shunk being Governor of the State of Pennsylvania, 
was laid the cornerstone of a new church in Bendersville, Adams 
County, Pa. This church shall be known by the name of the 
Bethlehem Church of Bendersville. It shall be the exclusive 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 205 


property of the Ev. Lutheran and German Reformed congrega- 
tions worshiping in it. The lot of ground upon which this church 
is to be built was given as a donation by Charles Myers and Jonas 
Routsong. List of articles. The following brethren constitute 
the present church council: John Tazer, John Eppleman, Peter 
Rice, Henry Crum and Thomas Snodgrass, G. R., John Crist, 
John Weigle and Daniel Plank, Luth. The number of members 
of the said congregations are about 69.” 

On the 19th day of October, 1845, the church was dedicated. 
to the service of the triune God as the Lutheran and German 
Reformed Church of Bendersville. On this occasion were present 
Rey. Charles Hay of Gettysburg, Rev. J. W. Glessner of Lancaster, 
Rev. John Ulrick and Rev. C. F. Hoffmeier, the last two pastors 
of the church. The building committee were Jonas Routsong, 
John Crist and George Bender, Lutheran, Peter Rice, John Ep- 
pleman and Conrad Wener, G. R., Masons, Lazarus and Jacob 
Weidner: Plasterer, Josiah Weaner: Carpenters, George Bender 
and Jonas Routsong. 

The two congregations continued to worship on alternate 
Sabbaths for many years, in apparent peace. Following the com- 
pletion and dedication of the new church, a meeting was assembled 
on the 30th of March, 1846, for the purpose of adopting a con- 
stitution. This document remained in force many years. 

Most interesting items appear as one goes over the communion 
lists year after year. Some names appear time after time for 
years showing how regular they were at the Lord’s table, a striking 
example being the name of Judith Yeatts, which is on record 
first, October 24, 1852, and last in April, 1910, her death occurring 
May 7th, 1910. 

This congregation at first was served by pastors living at 
York Springs. Later it was attached to the Arendtsville charge 
and was served by pastors from that point until about 1880 when 
Bendersville, Wenksville, Benders church and a new congregation 
at Biglerville became a separate charge. This relation continued 
until the later part of 1912, when the work of the four congrega- 
tions demanded more than one pastor could give and after several 
meetings it was decided to divide the charge. Bendersville and 
Wenksville constituted one charge and Benders church and Big- 
lerville the other. This separation was made during the pastorate 
of Rev. C. F. Floto, he becoming pastor of the newly formed 
Biglerville charge. 

Under some of the pastors special revival services were held 
which resulted in great good to the church and community. 
From the beginning the church has had a succession of faithful 
pastors, none of whom however remained for a long period of 
years, aS 1s sometimes the case. About 900 persons joined the 
church during these 80 years. Many of them remained faithful 
until death, many others removed to other places and became 


206 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


members there. Some made shipwreck of their faith losing hold 
on the church and God. Some remain nominal members of the 
church, while, thank God, others are still faithful until this day. 
There are on the church roll today about 200 names with about 
140 communicants. In 1914 thirty-five or 40 members withdrew 
and organized a congregation at Aspers which will in time become 
a flourishing congregation having now a fine new building. 

After the separation of Bendersville from Arendtsville, a 
house was purchased for a parsonage, an addition to the house 
was erected and the Rev. William Heisler, who was called as 
pastor, became the first occupant in 1880. 

The old stone church had served the congregation for many 
years and there was manifest an increasing desire either for ex- 
tensive repairs to the old church or the erection of a new building. 
After much discussion it was finally decided to erect a new church. 
This was done under the pastorate of Rev. U. A. Hankey. The 
cornerstone was laid on Sunday July 5th, 1896; Rev. D. T. Koser 
of Arendtsville preached the sermon, and the cornerstone was laid 
by the pastor. The offerings of that day, although it rained, 
amounted to $92.88. The dedication of the new church took 
place on Sunday, December 13th, 1896, in the presence of an 
immense crowd of people. The sermon was preached by Rev. E. 
J. Wolf, D. D., of Seminary and the finances were in charge of 
Rev. H. H. Weber. About $575 subscribed, being sufficient to 
cover all indebtedness remaining. 

The building committee was Rev. Hankey, Pres., Stephen 
Weidner, Treas., Hiram Yeatts, Secy., Henry Eppleman, Eli B. 
Slaybaugh, George W. Weaner, Henry Weigle and Jacob B. Rout- 
song; the mason was Louis Fohl, the carpenter was Jacob Patter- 
son. The cost of the church was $4000. 

During the pastorate of Rev. S. A. Diehl repairs were made 
to the church. The outside woodwork was repainted, the inside 
walls frescoed, a Kelsey hot air furnace was placed in the base- 
ment and an acetylene light plant installed, the cost of all being 
about $700. The church was reopened for services on November 
8th, 1908. The sermon was preached by Rev. T. C. Billmimer, 
a D., of Seminary from the text ‘The greater glory of the latter 

ouse.”’ 

It yet remains to give a list of the ministers serving this 
congregation. The first recorded name is that of Rev. Daniel 
Gottwald who resided at York Springs and visited this community 
as early as 1830 to 1835. Then follows at short intervals a number 
of ministers who resided also at York Springs and some were 
supplies from Seminary. Rev. C. Weyl, 1840, Rev. John Ulrick, 
1842, who also admitted members to the church as late as 1850. 
He was assisted at different times by the following seminarians 
for about six months each: Rosenberg, Welker, Kunkel, Fink, 
Height. Then began somewhat more settled pastorates. 


Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rey. 
Rev. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 207 


DAHeocht: 1851- 

George Roth, 1851-1858; 

L. J. Bell, 1858-1859; 

J. K. Miller, 1860-1865; 

M. D. Snyder, May, 1866 to October, 1872; 
H. F. Long, October, 1873—May, 1877: 

D. M. Blackwelder, June, LS hecO May, 1880. 


The pastors of the new charge: 


Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 


W. L. Heisler, August, 1880- 1883; 
Go We McSherry, June, 1883- 1890; 
J. M. Rice, June, 1890-1894; 

BETAS Hankey, November, 1894—February, 1902; 
S. A. Diehl, April, 1902—October, 1909; 

(rls Floto, January, 1910— December, 1912: 
Joseph Arnold, February, 1913— October, 1915: 
Wie sels Scott, January, 1916—September, 1923: 
Oliver D. Coble, May, 1924—. 


CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, ASPERS, PA. 
(BENDERSVILLE CHARGE) 


Rev. OLIVER D. Cosun, Pastor 





CuristT LUTHERAN CHURCH,FASPERS, PA. 


208 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


On November 24, 1913, the President received a communica- 
tion from Rev. Joseph Arnold, Bendersville, stating that a number 
of people at Bendersville Station were anxious to organize a Luth- 
eran congregation at that place and build a church. On De- 
ecember 4, 1913, the President visited the place and preached a 
sermon in the school house, after which a petition signed by five 
persons was forwarded to the President, December 11, 1913, asking 
for constitutional privileges to organize a congregation. On 
January 4, 1914, the congregation was duly organized and a 
constitution adopted, the name approved was Christ Lutheran 
Church, of Aspers, Pa. The following officers were elected: H. 
J. Bream, H. G. Baugher, elders; Martin Baugher, H. Red, H. 
Brough and Harry Eppleman, deacons. There were thirty-seven 
charter members. The council organized by electing H. J. Bream 
president, H. Red secretary and M. Baugher treasurer. A Sunday 
- School was organized with H. G. Baugher superintendent. The 
congregation then asked the Bendersville charge to supply them 
with preaching. At a joint council meeting January 29, 1914, 
this request was refused. Rev. C. F. Floto, of Biglerville, then 
consented to supply for the present. A lot of ground was secured 
and a new church building erected, which was dedicated free of 
debt, Sunday, September 5th. The building is of brick, gothic in 
architecture, 45 x 75 feet, one of the finest rural buildings in the 
vicinity. The entire cost of building, including lot, but not about 
$1,000 which was donated in material and labor, was $12,000. 
This congregation now became a part of the Bendersville Charge, 
Rev. Joseph Arnold, Pastor, who was also present upon this oc- 
casion, and rendered splendid help during the progress of this 
enterprise. 





ST. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH, WENKSVILLE, PA. 
(BENDERSVILLE CHARGE) 


Rev. Outver D. CoBie, Pastor 


At the meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod that was held 
at Wrightsville, Pa., in September, 1878, an application was pre- 
sented from the ‘‘Wenksville Lutheran Church, located five miles 
from Arendtsville, to be received into this Synod, and incorporated 
into the Arendtsville Charge.” The request was granted. But 
two years later, at the meeting held in Greencastle, Pa., September, 
1880, the Synod ratified a division of the Charge, by which the 
“Bendersville and Wenks Churches” formed a new Charge to be 
known as the Bendersville Charge. 

The St. James’ Church has been served thereafter by the 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 209 


pastors of the Bendersville Charge, the Rev. W. L. Heiser being 
the first of the pastors of this Charge. 





St. JAMES LUTHERAN CHURCH, WENKSVILLE, PA. 





THE BIGLERVILLE CHARGE 


The Biglerville Charge at present consists of two churches: 
St. Paul’s, located at Biglerville; and Bender’s located about a 
mile and a half from Biglerville. From the time of organization 
until 1912 these two churches were included in the Bendersville 
Charge. In 1912 these two churches withdrew from the Benders- 
ville Charge and formed a separate charge known as the Bigler- 
ville Charge. At the time of this publication the charge is with- 
out a pastor. 


BENDER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH 


(BIGLERVILLE CHARGE) 


Records are not available to give much of this congregation. 
The congregational history dates back to 1780. The church since 
the time of its organization has been a union church. It was 
known as the Bender’s Lutheran and Reformed Church. It be- 
longed to the Bendersville Charge. About 1894 extensive repairs 
were made. The building was changed to a two story building. 


210 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


It had been one of the old type, having the pulpit in the center 
surrounded by three galleries. Needed repairs were made again 
in 1902. The records are silent as to the pastors serving this 
congregation prior to 1894. Since that date there are recorded 
the names of five men: Rev. U. A. Hankey, Rev. 8S. A.. Diehl, 
Rev. C. F. Floto, Rev. Samuel Tholan, Rev. G. E. Miller. 





5 PS PAU Seb UH ERAN COURC EE 


(BIGLERVILLE CHARGE) 


The St. Paul’s Lutheran Congregation of Biglerville, Adams 
County, Pennsylvania, was organized March 27, 1881, with a 
membership of 21 individuals. The congregation was organized 
by Rev. W. L. Heisler, pastor of the Bendersville Charge, of which 
this congregation formed an integral part. Divine services were 
held in the school-house. In May preliminary steps were taken 
to purchase a lot of ground on which to erect a church edifice. 
The congregation purchased a lot on the Arendtsville road and 
plans were started to erect a building. On August 28th, 1881, 
the cornerstone of the church was laid in the presence of a very 
large audience with appropriate services. Rev. E. Breidenbaugh 
officiated at the laying of the stone. The church was dedicated 
to the worship of Almighty God May 7th, 1882. Work began, 
and on Sunday, May 21st, 1882, the Sunday School was organized 
with about 40 scholars. 

Repairing was done to the building in 1899 and on October 
1st, 1899, the church was rededicated. Rev. U. A. Hankey, then 
pastor, took charge of the service. In 1908 the church building 
was enlarged because of the growth of the congregation. From a 
membership of 21 the St. Paul’s congregation has grown to the 
present membership of 245 confirmed members. The Sunday 
School has shown an equal growth, having at present an enroll- 
ment of 246 scholars. Six pastors have served this congregation 
since the time of its organization, as follows: Rev. W. L. Heisler, 
Rev. U. A. Hankey, Rev. 8. A. Diehl, Rev. C. F. Floto, Rev. 
Samuel Tholan, Rev. G. E. Miller. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE Palit 


REV. RALPH W. BAKER 


(PasToR oF ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, FAIRFIELD, Pa.) 


Rev. Ralph W. Baker was 
born in Youngstown, Ohio, on 
October 17th, 1898. He is the 
son of Rev. C. W. Baker, D. D., 
and Anna K. Baker, of New 
Bloomfield, Pa. His early educa- 
tion was secured at Lena and 
Princeton, Illinois. » He gradu- 
ated from the High School at 
New Oxford, Pa., in 1914, from 
Gettysburg Academy in 1915, 
from Gettysburg College in 1919, 
and from Gettysburg Theological 
Seminary in 1921. He gained a 
year in Seminary by taking his 
first year in Seminary together 
with his Senior year in College. 
From Seminary he accepted a 
call to the Zion Lutheran Con- —= 
eregation of Fairfield, where he is still pastor. On June 12th, 1924, 
he was married to Miss Garnette O. Frye, of New Alexandria, Pa. 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, FAIRFIELD, PA. 


Rev. RatepH W. Baker, Pastor 


Zion Ey. Lutheran Congregation was organized at Fairfield 
in 1854. Soon after, the present church building was erected. 
It was at first a union church,—the Reformed church of Fairfield 
holding their services in conjunction with the Lutherans. 

The earliest pastor on record is W. 8. Johnson, who took 
charge in 1865. He served the congregation faithfully for about 
22 years. During his ministry the Reformed Church withdrew 
from the Union Church and went to themselves. The Lutheran 
Church then united with the Lutheran Charge at Emmitsburg, 
Maryland. 

In 1887 Rev. J. W. D. Sherer was called as pastor. He served 
a faithful ministry of 13 years. During his ministry a parsonage 
was bought at the end of town. The church building was also 
renovated and remodeled, as well as a Sunday School room added 
in 1891. The building was used as a Field Hospital on the 3rd. 
of July 1863 to care for the wounded of the U.S. Sixth Vir- 
ginia Cavalry, when they retreated thru Fairfield. 


22 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rey. C. L. Ritter was called as pastor in 1900 and served for 
11 years. During his ministry the congregation removed from 
Emmitsburg and supported their own pastor. As the congrega- 
tion grew it became evident that more room was needed, so an 
infant room was added. This completes the building as it stands 
today. 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, FAIRFIELD, PA. 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH AUDITORIUM 


ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE 213 


In 1911 Rev. W. K. Fleck was called as pastor and served 
for 7 years. During his ministry many were added to the congre- 
gation and thru his evangelistic work many were turned to the 
right path of life. The parsonage was sold and the property 
adjoining the church bought in its stead. 

He was succeeded by Rev. W. 8S. Bonnell, who served for 
almost three years. 

After a vacancy of some months the present pastor, Rev. 
Ralph W. Baker, was called and took charge on June Ist, 1921. 
Since his coming about 88 new members have been added, the 
Sunday School greatly increased. In 1923 the entire church was 
remodeled and renovated, and in 1923-24 the old parsonage was 
torn down and a fine modern one erected in its place. The work 
is progressing steadily and the future promises much. 


REV. ALPHEUS E. WAGNER, D. D. 


(PASTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, GETTYSBURG, Pa.) 


Alpheus E. Wagner was born 
at Washingtonville, Ohio, son of 
Rey. Samuel and Catherine Kei- 
ser Wagner. He received his 
secondary education in the schools 
of his birthplace, took his Fresh- 
man year in Wittenberg College, 
completed his academic course 
at Mt. Union College, Alliance, 
Ohio, and pursued his theo- 
logical studies at Wittenberg 
Theological Seminary. He re- 
ceived the honorary degree of 
Doctor of Divinity from Gettys- 
burg College, Pa. He was mar- 
ried on February 15, 1885, to 
Minnie E. Illig, daughter of Gus. 
F. Illig, M. D., (deceased) and 
Mary M. Lllhig. 


He has occupied the following pastorates: First Lutheran 
Church, Wapakoneta, O., Second Lutheran Church, Springfield, 
O., First Lutheran Church, Topeka, Kansas, Second Lutheran 
Church, Altoona, Pa., and since September 15, 1913, Christ (Col- 
lege) Lutheran Church of Gettysburg, Pa. 

He was President of the Kansas Synod and President of the 
State Sunday School Association of Kansas; he was Vice President 
of the Missouri State Sunday School Association for four years 





214 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


and for two years of this period was State lecturer and Normal 
teacher; for a number of years he was a member of the Lutheran 
Board of Education of the General Synod; for a number of years 
a member of the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary 
at Gettysburg, Pa., representing the Alleghany Synod; for several 
years a member of the Board of Trustees of Susquehanna Univer- 
sity at Selinsgrove, Pa., and since June, 1907, has been a member 
of the Board of Trustees of Gettysburg College. 

He was a delegate to the General Synod at Mansfield, O., 
Baltimore, Md., Sunbury, Pa., Washington, D. C., Chicago, IIL, 
and at the Merger Convention of The U. L. C.in New York City. 


CHRIST CHURGH, GETTYSBURG, PA. 
A. E. Waaneir, D. D., Pastor 





Curist LUTHERAN CHURCH, GETTYSBURG, PA. 


Nore: Many of the historical facts of this sketch have been taken 
from an “Historical Discourse” prepared in 1877 by the Rev. Charles A. 
Hay, D. D., pastor, 1866-1893. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 215 


The history of Christ Church dates from February 5, 1835. 
It was an offshoot of the German Lutheran (now St. James) 
Congregation which had been organized late in the preceding 
century. 


With the founding of the Seminary and the College it was 
thought that the interests of these institutions could be best 
served by an English Lutheran Church. Accordingly an effort 
was made to see if sufficient funds could be secured for such an 
undertaking. Those interested in the enterprise called a meeting 
on February 5, 1835, of which the following is the record: 


“Gettysburg, February 5, 1835 

““Agreeably to notice, those persons who had purchased pews 
and parts of pews in the English Evang. Lutheran Church about 
to be built in the borough of Gettysburg met at the house of Sam- 
uel Fahnestock. The meeting was organized by appointing 
Thomas C. Miller, Esq., Chairman and George Ziegler Esq., Sec- 
retary. 

At this meeting a committee was appointed to recommend a 
building site. On February 16th the Committee reported and 
the ‘“pew-holders”’ selected the lot on which the church now 
stands, paying for the same the sum of $750. 

From February 16, 1835, to February 8, 1836, there is no 
record of what was done. On the last named date a meeting was 
held for the purpose of organizing an English Evangelical Luth- 
eran Church. Of this meeting we have the following minutes: 
“The meeting was organized by calling President Krauth to the 
Chair. Prof. Reynolds was appointed Secretary. 

On motion of Dr. Gilbert it was resolved: 

“That we associate ourselves together as an English Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church, with the title of Christ Church, and 
declare our intention by subscribing our names to this resolution.”’ 
To this resolution the following names are appended: 

C. P. Krauth, 8S. 8. Schmucker, M. Jacobs, H. L. Baugher, 
Wm. M. Reynolds, Samuel H. Buehler, Geo. Shryock, D. Gilbert, 
Conrad Weaver, Jacob Kuhn, Christian Dobler, Rob. W. Middle- 
ton, Geo. E. Buehler, John Zamer, John Slentz, George Little, 
A. D. Buehler, G. Chritzman, Andrew Polley, A. B. Kurtz, Peter 
Weikert, Samuel Gilbert, Wm. Gillespie, Adam Walter, George 
Leas, F. K. Heisley, C. F. Himes. 

In 1838 the church was legally incorporated. The charter 
sets forth the relation of the congregation to the Seminary and 
College. It provides: “The church shall forever, on every al- 
ternate Sabbath, in the forenoon, be at the service of the pro- 
fessors of the Theological Seminary located at Gettysburg.” At 
the first meeting of the congregation it placed on record the follow- 
ing resolution: “Resolved, That the Faculty and Students of 
Pennsylvania College be invited to worship statedly with this 


216 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


congregation, and that the Faculty be requested to officiate 
whenever the church is not otherwise occupied.” 

In 1843 the trustees were instructed to set aside the western 
tier of pews for the exclusive use of the students of the Seminary 
and the students of the College. Later the entire west tier was 
assigned to the students of the College and a section of the east 
tier for the students of the Seminary. The present arrangement 
is that the upper classes of the College occupy the west tier and 
the students of the Seminary a section in the East tier, in the morn- 
ing service, and that in the evening service the Freshmen occupy 
the entire west tier and the students of the Academy the entire 
east tier. It is therefore not surprising that the church has come 
to be known as ‘‘College Church.” 


From time to time the church edifice has been improved and 
enlarged until today it stands, with its stately colonial exterior 
and its chaste and beautiful interior, a fitting memorial to its 
founders and a joy to its present occupants. The periods of im- 
provement and enlargement have been as follows. In November 
1863, repairs made necessary by its use as a hospital, at a cost 
of $1200. In 1875-76, the edifice enlarged by the addition of 
25 feet and the entire reconstruction of the building at a cost of 
$9000. In 1897 the main auditorium was newly frescoed, newly 
carpeted, seated with improved pews, choir gallery enlarged, new 
chancel furniture added and the exterior and interior repainted. 


In 1917 the main auditorium was newly frescoed, a new 
heating plant installed, new lighting system adopted, new carpet, 
new stairway connecting the 8. S. room with the main auditorium, 
and all the windows of the auditorium and the vestibule made 
memorial, at a cost of $5000. 


The church at this date (August, 1923) is free from debt, 
always meets its Synodical apportionment with a surplus, has a 
permanent endowment fund in the sum of $1000, the gift of Miss 
Kate McCreary, a fund of $500 for the erection of a chapel, the 
gift of Mrs. Amos Eckert, and the W. H. & F. M. Society a per- 
manent endowment fund in the sum of $500, the gift of Mrs. Amos 
Eckert. 

The present resident confirmed membership is 307. 


This sketch will not be complete without a list of its illustrious 
pastors: 

1835-36—Rev. Frederick Ruthrauff; 

1836-39—Rev. Benjamin Keller; 

1840 Prot2H smith: 

1841-52—Pres. H. L. Baugher; 

1853-55—Dr. 8. 8. Schmucker; 

1855-61—Dr. C. P. Krauth; 

1861-65—Dr. H. L. Baugher; 

1866-93—Dr. Charles A. Hay. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE lige 


The above served as pastors in connection with professorial 
and other duties. 


The following gave their entire time to the work of the con- 
eregation: 

1893-96—Dr. Luther 8. Black; 

1896-00—Dr. Herbert C. Alleman; 

1901-05—Dr. M. Coover; 

1906-11—Dr. Henry Anstadt; 

1913- Dr. A. E. Wagner. 


No sketch of this church however brief would be complete 
without a passing reference to the patriotic and humane service 
it rendered at the time of the great battle, July, 1863. As the 
conflict progressed, 1t became evident that the public buildings of 
the town would be needed as hospitals. This church was the first 
of the churches to be used for this purpose and was so used during 
the time of the battle and for nearly six weeks afterward by the 
Second Division of the First Corps. Forty wounded men were 
crowded into the lecture room, and one hundred into the audi- 
torium. 

On the Sunday morning following the battle during a brief 


service conducted by Dr. Baugher, five of these wounded soldiers 
died. 


In front of the church stands a granite tablet with open 
Bible, commemorating the tragic death of Rev. Horatio Howell, 
Chaplain of the 90th Pennsylvania Volunteers, who was shot on 
the afternoon of July first as he stood upon the steps of the church. 
Chiseled into the open Bible on this tablet are the words of Psalm 
18:48. 


218 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. EARL JEROME BOWMAN 


(PASTOR oF St. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CuuRCH, GETTYSBURG, Pa.) 


The subject of this sketch was 
born at Millersburg, Pa., the son 
of Joseph E. and Agnes L. Bow- 
man. He was confirmed in St. 
Paul’s Lutheran Church of that 
place in 1904. His preparation 
for college was secured in the 
High Schools at Millersburg and 
Williamsport, Pa. In Septem- 
ber, 1907, he entered Gettysburg 
College, graduating in 1911 as 
valedictorian of the class. He 
eraduated from Gettysburg 
Theological Seminary in 1914. 

In May of that year became 
pastor of First Lutheran Church 
of Philipsburg, Pa., of the Alle- 
ghany Synod, serving this con- 
eregation from May, 1914, to 
December 1, 1919. 


June 12, 1916, he married Miss Alma Alleman of Millersburg, 
Pa. 

He became the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Steel- 
ton, Pa., of the East Pa. Synod, December 1, 1919, continuing a 
successful work there until February 1, 1928, when a call was ac- 
cepted to become pastor of St. James’ Lutheran Church, Gettys- 
burg, Pa. 





ST. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH 
GETTYSBURG, PA. 


The authentic history of St. James’ Lutheran Church of 
Gettysburg, Pa., dates from 1789. Since there were Lutheran 
churches in neighboring parts of Adams County earlier than this 
date, 1t is probable there were Lutherans here even previous to 
1789. However, at that date the Lutherans and Reformeds were 
worshipping in an old log school house at the corner of High and 
Stratton Streets. 

The pioneer preacher who served the congregation was Rev. 
J. George Baugher, who lived at Hanover from 1753 to 1763 and 
again from 1777 to 1785. He preached at many mission stations 


ADAMS CoUNTY CONFERENCE 219 


scattered from Baltimore to York and across the mountain to 
the vicinity of Chambersburg. 

In 1803, the old log school house being too small, an attempt 
was made to raise funds for a new church. The effort was un- 
successful and from that date until 1814 the congregation worship- 
ped in the Court House, which from 1800 to 1859 stood in the 
middle of the square in Gettysburg. Later the Reformed and 
Lutheran congregations raised sufficient money to build, and on 
the site of the old school house at the corner of High and Stratton 
Streets a two story brick structure was erected where for thirty- 
five years the two denominations worshipped on alternate Sundays. 
The building was dedicated October 16, 1814, the corner stone 
having been laid August 27, 1812. The following Lutheran 
pastors were present at the dedication: Rev. John Herbst and 
Rey. J. G. Sechmucker of York, Rev. Melsheimer of Hanover, and 
Rev. John G. Grobp of Taneytown, Md. The latter was the first 
pastor to supply the Lutherans with regular services in the new 
church. Rev. Breinig followed him, for a short while. From 
1818 to 1819 Rev. Heine was pastor. 

The first pastor to leave a self-written record was Rev. 
Johann Herbst, Jr., who served from 1819 to 1829. There were 
three important events in his pastorate. In 1826 the Gettys- 
burg Theological Seminary was founded. He was one of the first 
contributors, giving $100. The next year the school which in 
1832 developed into Gettysburg College was founded. Rev. 
Herbst was closely associated with Rev. 8. 8. Schmucker in its 
organization. In October, 1827, the General Synod met in Get- 
tysburg. The record shows that ‘“‘the delegates elected by the 
different synods, together with other clergy present, assembled 
at the house of the resident pastor and at 10 o’clock A. M. pro- 
ceeded to the Lutheran Church.” Entertaining the General 
Synod was not a burdensome task as there were but fifteen dele- 
gates. 

Rev. Charles Weyl while a student in the Seminary in 1830 
became pastor. He served until 1832. 

That year Rev. Frederick Ruthrauff became pastor. He 
remained until 1836. The most important event of his pastorate 
was the formation in 1835 of Christ Lutheran Church of Gettys- 
burg. The College and Seminary authorities felt it was advisable 
to have an English Lutheran Church in the town, since the union 
arrangements with the Reformed congregation gave the Lutherans 
the use of the church only on alternate Sundays, and on one of 
these the services were in German. This made possible only one 
English service a month. Other reasons contributed to the sepa- 
ration, though there was no enmity between the mother and 
daughter. Rev. Ruthrauff served as pastor of both congregations, 
the professors preaching at Christ Church on such Sundays as he 
was not able to be there. The old church came to be known as 


220 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the German and the new one as the English Church. It was in 
the minds of the promoters of the movement for a new congrega- 
tion, that St. James’ should serve the German element, and Christ 
Church should serve the English speaking people and the educa- 
tional institutions located here. Fortunately the leaders of St. 
James’ saw the wisdom of providing for her young people in the 
English language. Thus the mistake frequently made in German 
congregations was avoided here. Rev. Ruthrauff’s pastorate 
ended May 1, 1836. The old church records show this entry: 

“On the first of May, 1836, I preached my farewell 

sermon to a numerous congregation in Gettysburg; Text 

2 Cor. 13:11, after laboring four years. 

F. Ruthrauff.” 
Later in the same year began the pastorate of Rev. Benjamin 
Keller, who served until 1851 making his term of service the 
longest pastorate in the history of St. James’. He also served 








St. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CuurcH, Buitt 1848 


Christ Church, and three congregations in the country at the 
same time. This long pastorate was marked by several very im- 
portant events, the chief of which these: the severance of relations 
with Christ Church, December 24, 1839, when Christ Church ac- 
cepted Rev. Keller’s resignation; the adoption of the name St. 
James’, 1840; the founding of the Sunday School, January 5, that 
year; the separation from the German Reformed congregation; 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE pA 


and the building of a new church on the site of the present struct- 
ure in 1848. The separation from the Reformeds was marked 
by friction and at one time by a threatened law suit. In 1846 
St. James’ became an incorporated body. The congregation re- 
ceived $300 for their interest in the union church, and the small 
bell, and retained joint ownership of the union grave yard. 

The new church deserves mention. It was built at the corner 
of York and Stratton Streets on a lot sold to the Council by Hon. 
George Smyser for ten cents, for which he paid $375. The corner- 
stone was laid April 26, 1848. The following ministers were 
present: Dr. 8. 8. Schmucker, Rev. 8. W. Harkey, Prof. H. L. 
Baugher, Rev. 8S. Sprecher and Dr. C. P. Krauth. The building 
was dedicated December 31, 1848, with German services in the 
forenoon and English services in the afternoon. The church cost 
$4,425.00. To pay for the new edifice the pew rent system was 
adopted. The revenue provided in this way was not sufficient, 
and to make up the deficit, the old parsonage, an old house on 
York Street, was sold; the pastor then lived in another section 
of town. 

Rev. Keller resigned September 22, 1851, and on Sunday, 
October 12, he preached his farewell sermons. 

He was succeeded by Rev. Peter Anstadt, who became pastor 
in 1852, and who served until 1854, the date of resignation being 
June 12 of that year. During this pastorate an attempt was 
made by Christ Church to unite with St. James’ in calling a pastor. 
The attempt was a failure, though the two congregations wor- 
shipped together for several years. 

From 1855-1857 Rev. Reuben Hill was pastor. During this 
pastorate Dr. C. F. Shaeffer of the Seminary was requested to 
preach German every other Sunday afternoon. The abrupt in- 
troduction of the robe and full liturgical service by the Germans 
precipitated trouble. The use of these was forbidden by action 
of the Council in 1857 and in a short time the German portion 
of the congregation withdrew and formed St. Paul’s German 
Lutheran Church, this being the third Lutheran Church in Gettys- 
burg. The first notice of the new congregation in the Synod 
minutes is in 1859. Dr. Shaeffer was appointed first pastor of 
the small congregation of thirty-five communicant members. On 
May 6, 1865, after an unsuccessful attempt to keep the congrega- 
tion alive, the effort was abandoned and the seceders were received 
back into St. James’. 

It was during this period of division at home and the stress 
of the approaching Civil War that Rev. James R. Keiser became 
pastor. He served from 1858 until May 4, 1861, when he resigned. 
During this pastorate the parsonage, which was demolished in 
1911 when the present one was built, was bought. 

In August, 1861, Rev. Abraham Essick came here as pastor. 
He was pastor in July, 1863, when the great battle was fought at 


227 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Gettysburg. On April 20, 1862; he confirmed a class of twenty- 
three, among whom was Mary Virginia Wade, the heroine who 
under the name of “Jennie”? Wade is known wherever the story 
of the battle is told. For five weeks following the battle St. 
James, was a hospital. From the steeple the pastor observed the 
early stages of the battle on July 1. 

The Church Council which had the difficult task of readjusting 
matters after the battle was composed of the following: 


TRUSTEES DEACONS 

Samuel Herbst D. K. Snyder 

Samuel Weaver Henry Rowe 

George Bushman 

ELDERS | John Cashman 

William B. Meals William K. Gallaugher 

Daniel Polly John Herbst 

George Wolf William Chritzman 

J. Rupp J. Bender 


In 1867 extensive repairs, necessitated by the use of the 
building as a hospital, were made, at a cost of $2,024.17. In May, 
1915, a check for $120.00 was received from the government to 
cover the damages. 

In spite of the disturbances due to the war, the pastorate of 
Rev. Essick was one of progress, peace and harmony among the 
members. He received 103 persons into membership. He closed 
his work in 1865. 

April 1, 1865, Rev. Edward Breidenbaugh, father of Dr. E. 
S. Breidenbaugh of the College Faculty, became pastor. His pas- 
torate of six years was a hard one following the devastation of 
the battle; but it was marked by a large measure of success. It 
was under his leadership that the repairs referred to above were 
made. They included the complete overhauling of the auditor- 
ium and the Sunday School rooms on the first floor. Some of 
the pews used during the war were sold to the Lutheran Church 
at Hast Berlin, Pa., where they are still to be found in the Sunday 
School room. This pastorate also saw the happy reconciliation 
with the Germans who had left to form St. Paul’s Church. 

An elaborate service was held in conjunction with Christ 
Church in 1867 to mark the seventh semi-centennial of the Re- 
formation. The Jubilee offering given by St. James’ that year, 
and used for benevolent purposes, was $1087.24. Rev. Breiden- 
baugh resigned because of impaired health January 1, 1872, but 
served until March of that year. 

March 28, 1872, Rev. William Sailor Heindel, a senior in 
the Seminary, was elected pastor. His work began favorably, 
but was cut short because Synod refused to ordain him. He 
served less than a year. 

May 1, 1873, Rev. George W. Enders became pastor. His 


ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 275 


pastorate was short but busy. He introduced the envelope sys- 
tem as an aid to the pew rent system, organized a Choral Society, 
reinstituted German services and one Sunday each month took 
charge of the Sunday School turning it into a catechetical class. 
February 1, 1874, failing health forced him to take a six months’ 
leave of absence, during which Rev. Probst was acting pastor. 
At the end of the six months Dr. E. J. Wolf of the Seminary began 
to supply the pulpit, which he did until November 1, 1874, when 
Dr. Ender’s impaired health forced him to resign. 

Rev. Daniel Steck became pastor April 1, 1875. During this 
pastorate the Reformeds and Lutherans sold the cemetery south 





ST. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH, IMPROVED 1888 


of High Street, to the county, having removed the bodies to the 
Evergreen Cemetery, and to the old graveyard across the street. 
Failing health of Rev. Steck caused the council to call Rev. D. Z. 
Foulk in March, 1881, as his assistant. Pastor Steck went to his 
reward June 10, 1881. He was the only pastor of St. James’ to 
die during the pastorate here. The loss of this eloquent preacher 
and faithful pastor was greatly lamented. 

That same year saw the beginning of the pastorate of Rev. 
Joel E. Swartz, which continued until 1894. This period saw 


224. History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


many forward steps. A parish paper, the first in the history of 
the congregation, was published. Extensive improvements to the 
church edifice were made, consisting of a new tower, new bell, new 
pews and other less conspicuous items. The dedication was held 
August 5, 1888. Addresses were delivered by Dr. Hay, pastor of 
Christ Lutheran Church, and Dr. Valentine of the Seminary. Dr. 
Conrad, editor of “The Lutheran Observer,’ had charge of the 
finances. By the time of dedication all the cost of the improve- 
ments, $5,600, had been provided. During the remodeling Mr. 
Herman H. Spence, a member, met death as he fell from a scaffold- 
ing near the top of the tower. 

Two years later extensive repairs Were made to the parsonage. 

In 1889 the Christian Endeavor Society at St. James’ was 
organized. It was the first in‘the County. April 1, 1882, Mrs. 
Swartz organized the Woman’s Missionary Society. In this busy 
pastorate over 600 new members were received into the church. 

Rev. Swartz preached his farewell sermon the first Sunday 
in April, 1894. 

September 1, 1894, he was succeeded by Rev. Augustus R. 
Steck, D. D., son of the former pastor, Rev. Daniel Steck. This 
pastorate was marked by healthful, steady growth, especially in 
young peoples’ work. An active interest was developed in the 
Cold Spring Mission. In 1894 St. James’ furnished the funds for 
the room, now occupied by Dr. Singmaster, in the Recitation 
Building at the Seminary. In 1902 the individual communion set 
was introduced. As late as 1901 services were occasionally held 
in German. Dr. Steck resigned in 1903. 

February 1, 1904, began the pastorate of Rev. Jacob A. 
Clutz, D. D., who came here from the presidency of Midland 
College, Kansas. His pastorate was marked by steady advance- 
ment in every department of the Church’s life and work. Oc- 
tober 27, 1907, after an unsuccessful attempt one year earlier, the 
old pew rent system, in vogue for about sixty years, was abolished, 
and the weekly envelope system was introduced. This was the 
forerunner of better things financially. Following two large in- 
gatherings of new members, definite plans were laid for a new 
church. Before the plans were consummated, Dr. Clutz was 
called to the Professorship of Practical Theology in our Seminary. 
This call came May, 1909, and he closed his pastorate August 
3151909: 

His successor was Rev. Joseph B. Baker, D. D., who began 
his work November 7, 1909, and served this congregation until 
August, 1922. These years were marked by much material and 
spiritual activity. The monthly parish paper, “The Messenger,” 
was begun. It is still serving a most useful place in the work of 
the congregation. Within a few months it was decided to build 
a new church, and after a preliminary fund of $16,000 had been 
raised, work on a new church and a new parsonage was begun. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 225 


The corner-stone for the new church was laid June 9, 1911. The 
building was dedicated September 15, 1912. Sermons were preach- 
ed by Dr. J. A. Clutz and Dr. A. R. Steck. On the day of dedica- 
tion over $22,000 was raised. The spiritual activity of the pas- 
torate is evident from the fact that by November 5, 1919, the 
church and parsonage costing $60,000 were paid for. During the 
latter part of Dr. Baker’s pastorate he was granted a leave of 
absence from the pulpit to lead the campaign to raise the last 
$500,000 in the Million Dollar Endowment Fund for Gettysburg 
College. 

February 1, 1923, Rev. Earl J. Bowman became pastor. In 
the interval between Rev. Baker’s resignation and the present 





ST. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH AND PARSONAGE, BuILtT 1912 


pastorate the pulpit was filled by Rev. A. R. Wentz, Ph. D., as 
supply pastor. 

St. James’ has a graded Sunday School of about 900 members. 
This organization had its origin in 1840. In few schools in the 
United Lutheran Church have there been so many ministers and 
ministers’ wives enrolled as workers and officers as at St. James’. 
Among those most widely known throughout the church, who have 
served as general superintendents or as superintendents of de- 
partments, are the following: Rev. B. B. Collins, Rev. A. R. 
Steck, Rev. Charles Diehl, Rev. A. D. Rowe, Dr. E. 8. Breiden- 
baugh and Dr. P. M. Bikle. 

The Woman’s Missionary Society of St. James’ Church was 
organized April 1, 1882, by Mrs. Joel Swartz. This society has 
been the mother of fourteen other societies in Adams County. 


226 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In 1912 the Ladies’ Missionary Guild was organized. 

Christian Endeavor was organized in St. James’ in 1888. 
There are at present active societies among the Seniors, Inter- 
mediates and Juniors. 

There is also an active Brotherhood, organized in 1911, as 
well as a strong Mite Society, which dates from 1870. 

St. James has been intimately connected with the history of 
our country. Besides being a hospital for six weeks following the 
battle in 1863, and having the heroine Jennie Wade as one of her 
members, the Church has frequently assisted in caring for the 
spiritual welfare of the vast throngs when government encamp- 
ments were stationed on our great battlefield. 

The names of many eminent persons are associated with her 
long history. Thaddeus Stevens contributed to the old church 
in 1848. Members of the choir sang at the dedication of the 
National Cemetery in 1863 when Lincoln made his memorable 
address. During the pastorate of Dr. A. R. Steck, William J. 
Bryan partook of the Lord’s Supper at St. James’, being in the 
town over the Sunday on which the sacrament was served. Theo- 
dore Roosevelt was fed by the women of St. James’ in 1912, when 
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers visited the battlefield. 
In 1911 the Boy Scouts of St. James’ presented a cane to President 
Taft at the White House. General Longstreet, Judge Ben. Lind- 
say, Dr. Francis E. Clark and Richmond P. Hobson have been 
entertained at the parsonage. The present pastor in 1923 es- 
corted David Lloyd George through the Seminary Building to 
the cupola, on his visit to the battlefield. 

More than seventy-five daughters of St. James’ have married 
preachers. It is doubtful whether any congregation in the Luth- 
eran Church can equal that record. 

The following sons of St. James’ have entered the ministry: 


Rev. A. R. Steck, D. D. Rev. Charles Swartz, Ph. D. 
Rev. G. W. Enders, Jr:, D..D. Rev. Wm. P. Swartz, Ph. D. 
Rey. Andrew Rudisill Rev. Frank Swartz 

Rev. Steward Rudisill Rev. L. B. Wolf, D. D. 
Rey. Benton Rudisill Rev. J. B. Wolf 

Rey. Jacob Rudisill Rey. Franklin Kelly 

Rev. Charles Bream Rev. F. A. M. Keller 

Rev. J. B. McCarney Rev. David Foulk 

Rev. Guy McCarney Reve mle Koser i ip: 
Rev. Charles Steck, D. D. Rey. J. A. Koser 

Rey. N. C. Barbehenn Rev. W. D. E. Scott 

Rev. Beniah Snyder Rev. Aidtkin Wolf 

Rev. Harold Creager Rev. George McSherry 


Rev. John Herbst Rev. Harold Mumper 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE D2E 


REV. JOHN 8. TOME 


(Pastor oF St. Marx’s LurHeran Cuurcu, Hanover, Pa.) 


He pursued special courses at 
Union Theological Seminary, in 
1920; at the University of Co- 
lumbia, in 1921; and at Harvard 
University, in 1925. He has 
served as assistant to Dr. Charles 
E. Jefferson, of Broadway Taber- 
nacle, New York City; and as 
Boys’ Work Superintendent at 
the Brick Presbyterian Church, 
New York City; and as pastor 
of Lutheran churches at Union- 
town and Shelby, Ohio. 





Sl. MARK’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, HANOVER, PA. 
Rev. Joun 8. Toms, Pasror 


St. Mark’s is a daughter of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 
which is Hanover’s oldest religious institution. 

Fifty years after Richard McAllister founded McAllister- 
town afterward named Hanover, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 
was dedicated to the Triune God. It was during the early days 
of our late civil strife that St. Mark’s was founded. Here the 
faithful, unmindful of the probable effects of the war, builded a 
tabernacle of God. Composed from its very inception of persons, 
many of whom had position and influence in the community, the 
wisdom and devotion of these men under God brought the con- 
eregation early into prominence locally and into a position of 
power in the counsels of the church of Luther. 

St. Mark’s Church celebrated her fiftieth anniversary Sep- 
tember 19th, 20th and 21st, 1915. The first meeting preliminary 
to organization was held December 19th, 1863. Subsequently, 
fourteen thousand two hundred thirteen dollars and seventy-five 
cents ($14,213.75) was subscribed for the erection of the church 
edifice and the purchase of a suitable site. At a meeting held 
January Ist, 1864, Carlisle Street was chosen as a proper location 
for the proposed structure. A building committee was appointed 
at the same session. The members of the committee were Wil- 
ham Young, Sr., David Wortz, John Grove, David Myers and 


228 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Isaac Loucks. January 9th the committee purchased from Wil- 
liam Beard the lot upon which the church now stands. The 
purchase price was two thousand one hundred dollars ($2,100.00). 

The corner stone was laid July 20th, 1864. 

The first pastor, the Rev. Monroe J. Alleman, D. D., was 
called March 11th, 1865. 

The church was dedicated the third Sunday in September, 
1865. 

The care of the tower clock was given over to the Town 
Council of Hanover, August 12th, 1865. 





St. Marxk’s CuurcH, SUNDAY SCHOOL, PARISH 
HousE AND PARSONAGE 


At a congregational meeting held March 8th, 1883, it was 
decided to enlarge the church. An annex of twenty feet was 
built and interior improvements made to the main auditorium 
including the purchase of a pipe organ. ‘The total expenditure 
exceeded twelve thousand dollars ($12,000.00). 

The Baltimore ‘Oriole’ bell was presented to the church by 
William Grumbine, December 4th, 1883. 

The church was reopened February 24th, 1884. 

The tubular chimes were installed in St. Marks’ Church 
tower during the summer of 1906. 

Among the members of St. Mark’s have been numbered many 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 229 


generous and charitably disposed citizens. The poor in this 
community have been aided and continue to be generously as- 
sisted through the benevolent bequests of several of her deceased 
members. Other members of this flock have bequeathed large 
sums to the benevolent work of the denomination. The late 
donor of the Eichelberger school building and the spacious grounds 
adjacent thereto was a member of this congregation. So are the 
donors of our beautiful and commodious public library building. 

Only two sons prior to the Semi-Centennial had gone out 
of this congregation into the Gospel Ministry, but their records 
do her honor. They are Rev. J. Wilson Bixler, D. D., Exeter, 
New Hampshire, and Rev. William A. Kump, pastor of Trinity 
Lutheran Church, Chambersburg, Pa. At present four of her 
sons are preparing themselves for the Ministry of Reconciliation. 
John Harold Little, a senior in the Gettysburg Theological Sem- 
inary was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at its 99th 
annual convention in Union Lutheran Church, York, October 
10th, 1928. He has since accepted the unanimous call of the New 
Chester Charge of the Adams County Conference. Arthur A. 
Fuhrman, another ministerial son of St. Mark’s, a second year 
student at Gettysburg Theological Seminary has applied for 
licensure at the next or 100th annual Convention of West Penn- 
sylvania Synod. Mr. Fuhrman had the use of the John 8. Young 
bequest fund of St. Mark’s for the aid of ministerial students, 
during his course of eight years at Gettysburg. St. Mark’s has 
also a Junior and a Sophomore at Gettysburg preparing for the 
gospel ministry. The 5th and 6th candidates for the ministry 
during the pastorate of Dr. Nicely entered Gettysburg College 
September, 1924, one of them being his own son. 

During the summer of 1914, the great four-manua! pipe organ, 
the magnanimous gift of two of St. Mark’s aged and most esti- 
mable women, was installed. The contract price of this instru- 
ment was ten thousand six hundred dollars ($10,600.00). With 
necessary attachments and the especially constructed swell-boxes, 
the expenditure was approximately fourteen thousand dollars 
($14,000.00). This instrument is now (1924) valued at thirty 
thousand dollars ($30,000.00). 

At a congregational meeting held Thursday evening, October 
30th, 1913, subscriptions were secured for the erection of a modern 
Sunday School chapel and proposed improvements to the church. 
The value of this new chapel is conservatively estimated at one 
hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000.00). The build- 
ing committee was John H. Brough, Edward M. Etzler and E. 
Fred Carver. The corner-stone was laid with appropriate services 
Sunday, June 7th, 1914. This new and modern chapel, built 
upon the Akron plan, accommodating about eight hundred persons, 
with fifteen communicating rooms, (rolling partitions) separate 
Beginners Department, Treasurer and Secretary’s room and rec- 


230 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


reation room in basement, was dedicated to God, Sunday, May 
16th, 1915. In 1921 the spacious recreation room was converted 
into modern and thoroughly equipped departmental rooms for 
Beginners and Primarians. The cost of renovation, alteration 
and equipment was about five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). 

In the spring of 1923 St. Mark’s purchased the ‘‘Barnitz’”’ 
property adjoining the church on the Northwest. This property 
571% x 250 feet, improved with three story dwelling, cost the con- 
gregation twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00). In the spring of 
1924 the congregation purchased the “Forney” property adjoining 
the church property on the Southeast. This property improved 
with a handsome brick dwelling facing Carlisle and Chestnut 
Streets, and a valuable two story brick building facing Chestnut 
and Railroad Streets in the rear and rented as an extract plant, 
was purchased for thirty-one thousand dollars ($31,000.00). Four 
thousand dollars ($4,000.00) was expended immediately in i1m- 
provements to this property. The former parsonage, 206 Broad- 
way was sold to the Hanover Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, 
for sixteen thousand dollars ($16,000.00). 

The entire property holdings of St. Mark’s in Hanover, corner 
Carlisle and Chestnut Streets abutting Railroad Street, 180 feet 
front and 250 feet deep and valued at two hundred thirty-five 
thousand dollars ($235,000.00) is entirely unencumbered. 

This congregation through its officials has declared its pur- 
pose, unless prevented by unforeseen conditions, to proceed with 
the erection of a new church edifice, in keeping with its present 
chapel and other equipment, not later than 1927. 


REV a GEO RG HW oN LG Eye) a): 


Pastor of ‘St. Mark’se Hy. 
Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa., 
from December 1, 1912, to March 
14, 1925, was born at Dewart, 
Pa., February 138, 1877; educated 
at Montoursville High School, 
Muncy Normal, Williamsport 
Business College; graduated at 
Gettysburg College, A. B. Course, 
1901; M. A., Gettysburg, 1904; 
graduated Gettysburg Theolog- 
ical Seminary, 1905, with B. D. 
degree. He served as pastor of 
Zion Lutheran Church, Newville, 
Pa., February, 1905-1908; as- 
sistant to President of Gettys- 
burg College July 1—December 
31, 1908; pastor St. Matthew’s 
Lutheran Church, Reading, Pa., 





ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 231 


1909-1912. ‘Toured United States, Hawaian Islands, China, 
Korea and Japan in 1920. He was honored by his Alma Mater, 
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa., in 1921, with the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity. He has served as a member of the Board of 
Publication of U. L. C. since 1918, and as President of the West 
Pennsylvania Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America 
from October, 1922, to the time of his acceptance of a call to the 
pastorate outside the bounds of the Synod in March, 1925. 


The ministry of Rev. Dr. Nicely has been fruitful in material 
development and spiritual growth in the pastorates served. 
During his pastorate, St. Mark’s Church, Hanover, has enjoyed 
a growth throughout the past decade of approximately 250% in 
membership. The property holdings have increased fourfold. 
Current and benevolent contributions per capita have been 
quadrupled. Considerable time and energy have also been de- 
voted to addresses on the work of the Sunday School and lec- 
tures on “The Far East.” 


In March of the year 1925, Dr. Nicely accepted a call to the 
pastorate of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Williamsport, Pa., 
where his energy and devotion have already made marked im- 
pression upon the church’s progress. 

The Rev. John 8. Tome has accepted a unamimous call to 
the pastorate of St. Mark’s Church, taking charge about August 
Ist, 1925. He comes to Hanover from the First Lutheran 
Church of Shelby, Ohio, and is a graduate of Gettysburg College, 
1916, and Gettysburg Seminary, 1919. 


The present confirmed, enrolled membership of this congre- 
gation is 800. The baptized membership is approximately 1200. 
The Sunday School enrollment is 500. Rich and poor alike have 
found this church a bethel for hungering hearts. 

We here record the names and the time of service of the 
pastors of this church: 

Rev. Monroe J. Alleman, D. D.—1865-1868; 
Rev. George Parson, D. D.—1868-1875; 
Rev. Daniel Schindler, D. D.—1876-1883; 
Rev. George Scholl, D. D.—1884-1887; 

Rev. Charles M. Stock,-D. D —1887-1912; 
Rev. George W. Nicely, D. D.—1912-1925; 
Rev. John 8. Tome—1925-. 

“Walk about Zion and go round about her; tell the towers 
thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that 
ye may tell it to the generations following.”’ 


Dae History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. RALPH H. BERGSTRESSER 


(Pastor oF St. Matruew’s LuTHeERAN CuurcH, HANOVER, PA.) 


Ralph H. Bergstresser was 
born in Lykens, Dauphin Co., 
January 2, 1882, the son of 
Edwin L. and Helen Watson 
Bergstresser. He graduated from 
the Lykens High School in 1898, 
and from Gettysburg College in 
1903. Entering the Theological 
Seminary at Selingsgrove, Pa., he 
completed his course at that in- 
stitution in 1906, and was or- 
dained by the Susquehanna Sy- 
nod at Hazelton in the same year. 
He then accepted the pastorate 
of the Pine Grove Mills charge 
consisting of Pine Grove Mills, 
Pine Hall and Gatesburg. He 
became pastor of Bethany Luth- 

= eran Church, Altoona, Pa., 1907, 
where he served until he accepted the pastorate of St. Matthew’s 
Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa., June 1, 1917. He was confirmed 
by ythes Rev. Pas: Hooper, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, 
Lykens, Pa. In 1906 he married Miss Nellie EK. Rupley, Millers- 
burg, Pa., daughter of the Rev. Daniel E. Rupley. ‘Ten children, 
Raiph, Helen, Kendig, Edwin, Jane, Daniel, Philip, Stephen, John 
Benjamin and Paul have blessed this union. 








ST. MATTHEW'S DUTHERAN |CHURCH, HANOVER Ee 


Rev. Ratpu H. BeRGSTRESSER, PASTOR 


In the year 1731, John Casper Stoever, a Lutheran Mission- 
ary, for the first time visited the early settlers in and around the 
present site of Hanover. His home was in New Holland, Lan- 
caster County, twenty miles northeast of Lancaster. During the 
years 1730-1731, this region was settled by pioneers who came 
mostly from the Palatinate, which is a district in the heart of 
Germany along the Rhine. Stoever made his journey on horse 
back, a distance of sixty miles. ‘From the hill-top to the East” 
writes Prof. George R. Prowell, Curator of the York Historical 
Society, “he could look over the beautiful region covered with a 
dense growth of hickory, chestnut, oak, and walnut. It was a 
primeval forest, with here and there small tracts of cleared land. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 230 


In the center of each cleared tract near a spring stood a small log 
cabin, the home of a pioneer family. There were about twenty 
families in such log cabins when Stoever made his first visit.” 


—BrEcAME First PAStTOR— 


John Casper Stoever was the founder and the first pastor of 
St. Matthew’s. He was born near Frankenberg, Germany, in 
1707. At the age of six he could read the Augsburg Confession. 
He early acquired a knowledge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. In 
those days the young clergymen studied theology with the pastors 
of the churches to which they belonged. He was twenty-one 
vears old when he came to Philadelphia, and one year later visited 
the Conewago. In Stoever’s own record of his ministerial acts 
which are still in existence, he records the baptism of John Jacob 
Kitzmiller in 1731, at the Conewago, Hanover. 

Stoever was an indefatigable missionary. ‘“‘Among all the 
early clergy,’ writes Mr. J. F. Sachse, in German Sectarians, 
“Who labored in the province of Penn, none were so active in 
their ministrations or as organizers of congregations as Johann 
Casper Stoever. It may be said that at almost every cross-roads 
wherever there were any number of Germans, Johann Caspar 
Stoever organized an Evangelical Lutheran Congregation.’ The 
beginning of St. Matthew’s was in 1732. In Dr. T. E. Schmauk’s 
splendid book entitled, ‘““The Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania,’ 
Page 242, he makes the following statement, “In 1732 the Old 
Goshenhoppen and the New Goshenhoppen churches in the 
Perkiomen district and the Conewago church in McAllistertown 
in Hanover, York County, across the Susquehanna were estab- 
lished.” 

In Stoever’s records we note that he made the journey to 
his congregation here from his home in New Holland twice a 
vear as a rule. No Church West of the Susquehanna had the 
services of a resident pastor at this time. On February 4, 1733, 
he baptized six children in this congregation: the six weeks old 
son of John George Forsch, whose sponsors were John Morgen- 
stern and wife; Andreas Herger, Jr., a son of Andreas Herger; 
Andreas Ohler, a son of Peter Ohler; Johannes Lehman, Jr., a son 
of Johannes Lehman; Johannes Eckert, a son of Conrad Eckert; 
Catharina Mittelkauff, daughter of Peter Mittelkauff, and Anna 
Bergheimer, daughter of Caspar Bergheimer. <A total of 22 
children were baptized by Stoever from April 19, 1731 to No- 
vember 13, 1739, whose names are in the archives of this congre- 
gation. The archives also contain a list of 33 members who 
belonged to St. Matthew’s from 17382-1740. 

On November 7, 1736 Stoever received a call to Lancaster, 
which he accepted and for several years the Hanover people found 
a nearer and more regular spiritual ministrant in the person of 


234 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Yost Mohr, a godly layman who is said to have possessed the 
authority to perform ‘‘Nothtaufen,” as the baptisms for the dead 
were called, and who conducted meetings from house to house 
and read prayer and sermons with the people. 


—Rev. Davin CANDLER— 


Rev. David Candler’s church record is in the archives of 
this church. It is a good, leather bound book with substantial 
linen paper, and in a remarkable state of preservation. The first 
page contains a statement of his coming to this territory to do 
mission work about 1738. The fly leaf of the record contains 
the name of the church, in his own handwriting, ‘The Evangelical 
Lutheran Church on the Conewago, and signs his name.”’ Then 
the members of the council: Elders, Lenhart Barnitz, Johannes 
Morningstar, Andreas Herger and Frederick Gelwicks. ‘The fly 
leaf also contains the call of Rev. Lars Nyberg, with his auto- 
graph, and his attestation of work done by Rev. Candler. At the 
foot of the page is a brief account of Rev. John George Bager’s 
(Baugher’s) presence and work here. On the next page the names 
of the members are entered. 


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When Pastor Candler came to Hanover to reside, he held 
services in his own house. His house was on the Conewago 
Creek, about one mile southwest of where Hanover now. is. He 
lived in the midst of a vast parish, extending from the Susque- 
hanna on the North to the Potomac on the South. One of his 
preaching points was York, another was onthe Monocacy Creek, 
ten miles on this side of Frederick, and another point was Fred- 
erick itself, where he organized a congregation. But Hanover was 
his principal congregation, and here he built the first church in 
the summer of 17438. This was the first house of worship west of 
the Susquehanna. This log church was one year older than the 
church in York, that being erected in 1744. A list of subscribers 


ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE 235 


to this first church is still preserved, although all record of its 
cost and dimensions is lost. The pulpit was slightly elevated and 
reached by the pastor mounting four steps and standing under- 
neath a sounding-board which carried his voice throughout the 
room. The heaviest subscriber was Christian Schlegel, who gave 
one pound, three shillings and nine pence. Frederick Gelwicks, 
Michael Carl, Philip Morningstar, Nicholas Bittinger, each con- 
tributed one pound. ‘These were heavy subscriptions for those 
days. 

Pennsylvania being one of the thirteen American Colonies, 
which then paid tribute to the British Crown, used English money, 
although some Spanish coins were also in circulation. 

Different members of the congregation furnished the logs for 
the building and aided in its erection. In that way the entire 
cost of the first church was paid. 

The new house of worship was solemnly dedicated to the 
worship of Almighty God, as a church of the Unaltered Augsburg 
Confession. At this time there were a number of members of the 
German Reformed Church, who had settled in this vicinity. They 
claimed no ownership in this church, but were given certain privi- 
leges to hold religious services until they had formed a congrega- 
tion of their own. 

This church served the congregation for thirteen years, mean- 
time the adjoining ground was used as a graveyard. The plain 
log church was large enough to accommodate an audience of two 
hundred people. The pews were made from boards sawed from 
the trees nearby. They were rude in their construction, but were 
sald to be comfortable. At the rear of the church was an open 
fire, for stoves were unknown in this region at that early date. 
While the pastor was conducting his service, leading the congre- 
gation in singing German hymns and chants, which they had heard 
in the Fatherland, the crackling of the hickory cordsticks could 
be heard in the open fire, which warmed the church during the 
long services, Which frequently continued two and three hours. 

In the year the church was built, 1748, Pastor Candler re- 
corded the baptisms of seventy persons, among whom were two 
of his own children. 

His son David Candler, who married Catharine Dunkle, be- 
came a prominent citizen of York, and secretary to the first 
Borough Council in 1787. At the beginning of the Revolution, 
David Candler was chosen a member of the Committee of Safety 
for York County, marking him as one of the earliest Patriots 
west of the Susquehanna River. His descendants moved to Geor- 
gia where one of his grandsons became the Governor of the State. 
David Candler served for two years as a soldier in the American 
army during the Revolution. 

Rev. David Candler died after a lingering illness in December, 
1744. His place of burial was in the graveyard beside the church; 


236 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


but no vestige of his grave is visible now because this ground 
was sold by the congregation in the year 1864, during that un- 
settled period when St. Mark’s Congregation was formed from 
members of this historic church, and the pastor, the Rev. M. J. 
Alleman, D. D., going along with the swarm. ‘The grave yard 
was sold for the munificent sum of $80.00 to Mr. George Young, 
and $15.00 of this amount was voted by the church council to 
buy “note books” for the use of the choir. Nothing was done to 
mark the spot where rest the ashes of the faithful minister of Christ 
who first preached the gospel of salvation under our skies, as the 
resident pastor. 


—BRIEF TIME oF PERIL— 


The funeral services of Rev. Candler were conducted from 
the church by a Swede, the Rev. Laurentius Nyberg, who was then 
located at Lancaster, as the first resident pastor of Old Trinity. 
A large number of members from the Monocacy and the Codorus 
(Christ) Congregations came to pay their last tribute of respect to 
their pastor who had served them with so much devotion and 
sacrifice in their welfare. The members travelled with ease and 
comfort over the Monocacy road which had been built in 1739 
by the authority of the Court of Lancaster. This road extended 
in a devious line from the present site of Wrightsville on the 
Susquehanna and crossed the Codorus at York, two years before 
the town was founded, from thence it extended westward past the 
home of Adam Forney at the end of Frederick Street, Hanover, 
and on westward to the Monocacy River near the site of Frederick 
in the State of Maryland. Over this road the members of his 
large parish travelled to attend the funeral of their beloved pastor. 
Rev. Nyberg so pleased his hearers by an impressive service, 
that they besought the orator to become their pastor. He con- 
sented to serve them until he could secure a pastor from Sweden 
to take charge of them. Nyberg made the following entry in his 
own handwriting in our first church record, ‘‘After the death of 
Rev. Candler, the inspection of the Conewago Congregations was 
transferred to the Rev. Nyberg, city preacher in Lancaster, who 
promises to call another minister, Anno 1744.” At that time the 
Chureh Council consisted of Peter Schultz, Andrew Herger, 
Michael Carl, and George Sponseiler, and each one together with 
Rev. Nyberg attested to the compact in his own handwriting. 

Nyberg was born in Sweden and early in life he was a sur- 
veyor and spent part of his time in that occupation, coming to 
this country for that purpose. He was aman of pleasing manners 
and good intellect. Having been a teacher at the Swedish Court, 
he accepted an invitation to come to Lancaster, both as a teacher 
and surveyor. He had also studied theology in his native country 
and was identified with the Lutheran faith. While at London 


ADAMS CoUNTY CONFERENCE Dt 


before coming to America, Nyberg met Spangenberg, who was 
coming to Pennsylvania, as the apostle of the Moravian faith, 
and in that way Nyberg became somewhat attached to the tenets 
of that church. 


There was the feeling among German immigrants in this 
country that the best plan to establish and support churches was 
to form a union. About this time pamphlets were circularized, 
endeavoring to promote an organization called the “Congregation 
of God in the Spirit” among the German settlers of the entire 
province. The plan did not work satisfactorily, for Spangenberg 
and Count Zinzendorf, another Moravian leader, were openly 
charged by the Lutheran and Reformed people that they wanted 
to lead all Germans in Pennsylvania to accept the Moravian faith. 
This plan was violently opposed by most of the members of the 
Conewago church, and in 1746 affairs had come to such a pass, 
that the church doors were locked against him. 


In their distress and perplexity the congregation now turned 
to the Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg for help, who in answer 
to their appeal visited York for the first time in May, 1746. 


Meanwhile the worthless Carl Rudolph now officiated here 
for about a year, but was compelled to flee the country upon the 
exposure of his disreputable life. 


The early pastors of St. Matthew’s evidently wore the pulpit 
gown, for when Carl Rudolph fled he stole Pastor Kraft’s pulpit 
gown. Rudolph was a gross imposter, and carried with him 
forged documents and seals to prove his worth. He appeared in 
Raritan, N. J., at his old tricks; then enlisting as a soldier, went 
to New England, where he was arrested and imprisoned. 


—Rerv. VALENTINE KRAFT— 


Towards the end of 1747, the Rev. Valentine Kraft was ac- 
cepted as pastor for one year. Valentine Kraft had been a 
preacher in the Palatinate, Germany, until at a somewhat ad- 
vanced age, he was dismissed by the authorities of the duchy of 
Zweibruchen. He had then turned his steps towards America, 
landing in Philadelphia, as the first passenger on the list, in the 
vessel Mary, commanded by Captain Mason, on August 25, 1742. 
He was in this country three months before the arrival of Muh- 
lenberg. First in Philadelphia, and then in the country districts, 
Kraft was the cause of much trouble. He was disloyal to the 
Lutheran Church, and a violent opposer of Muhlenberg. He was 
a notorious proselyter. He continued his interference until the 
close of 1749 when he was arrested for violation of some civil 
enactment and deprived of all his property. He removed to 
Frederick where he lived in great poverty until his death, in 1751. 


238 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


—MUHLENBERG ARRIVES— 


The change of pastors, and the attempts of Nyberg, Rudolph 
and Kraft to preach Moravian doctrines had divided the religious 
thought and feeling in the church at Conewago. The time had 
now come for a complete organization of all the Lutheran con- 
gregations in the provinces of Pennsylvania and this was to come 
about through the devoted missionary work of a new star in the 
firmament,—Henry Melchior Muhlenberg.— 

Muhlenberg who had arrived in this country in 1742 at the 
age of 31 years did not come to the Conewago until June 22, 1747. 
He found the congregation in a deplorable condition and tried to 
reconcile the opposing parties. He promised that when one of the 
“United Ministers” settled at York, he should serve at Conewago 
also. He preached in a large barn, but declined to administer 
the Lord’s Supper. He admonished them first to repent sincerely. 
He met some ‘Eastern’? Lutherans, former parishioners in Phila- 
delphia, who were moved to tears and deeply deplored their 
shepherdless condition since coming West. The next day he rode 
with two men from Maryland for twelve hours’ hard riding in a 
drenching rain to Monocacy, Md., thirty-six miles distant. He 
returned on the 26th of June. In his diary he states that on the 
return trip he was entertained by an English gentleman who 
judged the German Lutherans by what he knew of that tramp 
preacher, Carl Rudolph. He thought that the Moravians were 
the true “Friends of Jesus.’”? Pleased with Muhlenberg’s explana- 
tions, and disgusted with his own drunken rector, he begged 
Muhlenberg to send a sound evangelical preacher. This memor- 
able missionary tour of the patriarch Muhlenberg from Philadel- 
phia to the Potomac had an untold influence upon the churches. 
Everywhere he went the Word was preached and the sacraments 
were administered; laxity was rebuked, treachery exposed, diffi- 
culties adjusted, and vital pietv encouraged. To the distracted 
churches it was life from death; to Muhlenberg, an assurance that 
the Lord was on his side, and a stimulus to the larger plans of 
the future. It made him personally and accurately acquainted 
with the state of affairs on the frontier of civilization beyond the 
Susquehanna, and carried the weight of his authority into a ne- 
elected corner. It gave an effectual quietus to the demoralizing 
work begun by Zinzendorf and vigorously carried on by Nyberg. 
It brought the Western frontier churches into vital relations with 
the older Eastern parishes and with the mother-church of Europe. 
It saved them from clerical vagabondage, and established Muh- 
lenberg’s position as the spiritual councellor of all Pennsylvania 
and Maryland Lutheranism. His motto might have been that of 
King George of England, “Ich Dien’ (“I serve’), but that he 
had a better one, ‘Hcclesia plantanda”’ (“The Church must be 
planted.’’) 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 239 


Through Muhlenberg’s influence Rev. John Helfrich Schaum 
of York became pastor here from 1748 to 1752, and was obliged 
to face the discussions stirred up by the disorderly Kraft. He 
held services here every four weeks. During this period, Fred- 
erick Gelwicks, schoolmaster and elder of the Conewago Church, 
kept the baptismal record from 1744 to 1752. Another honored 
layman was the old school-master, Bartholomew Moul—Bartel 
Maul—who came to America in 1732. He owned part of the land 
adjoining the town of York on the East, and was one of the first 
county commissioners of York County. He read a sermon at 
church services and carefully instructed the young in the cate- 
chism. His influence for good was so great that Nyberg could 
accomplish nothing. His descendants are among the most faith- 
ful members of St. Matthew’s today. Schoolmaster Vigera, of 
Philadelphia, who accompanied Muhlenberg on this journey, also 
rendered material service in adjusting church troubles. 

During the ministry of Pastor Schaum, Missionary Inspector 
Rev. Dr. J. F. Handschuh one of the United Ministers, to whom 
had been entrusted the welfare of Lutheranism by the Halle au- 
thorities, paid a memorable visit to the Conewago in company 
with three church wardens, one from York, one from Lancaster 
and one from the Conewago. Handschuh says in his diary (Hall. 
Nachrr., I. 169), “As soon as I came into the region with a deacon 
from the Conewago, I had the remaining deacons, who lived three 
or four miles apart from each other, assemble as quickly as possible. 
But one of them was an adherent of old Mr. Kraft, who excused 
himself. When I discovered this division in the congregation and 
understood that Mr. Kraft was to preach the next day, I declined 
preaching. After much pleading, I promised to do it on condition 
that all would agree. Thereupon we rode to the house of the 
absent deacon, who was a man of considerable influence. Mr. 
Kraft himself was present and he agreed that I could preach for 
him, but not willing to have the services in the church. On the 
second of June I preached at the schoolhouse under the open sky. 
Pastor Kraft sat at my right at a little table, and a large multitude 
of people of all kinds of sects were gathered around us, among 
them a Moravian preacher. I also baptized two children, and 
God be praised, everything passed off quietly and in an orderly 
manner.” 

This brief extract from the missionary’s diary gives us some 
idea of the disorder and confusion of the Lutheran church on this 
territory. 


—Rrv. JOHN GEORGE BAGER— 
The last reference on the fly-leaf of the first church record 


is a brief account of Rev. John George Bager’s presence and work 
here. He came here in 1753, built the second house of worship, 


240 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


one mile east from Hanover, on the south side of the Carlisle 
turnpike. Michael Carl donated the lot and though every vestige 
of the church has disappeared, the grave yard still remains and 
is kept in order by the congregation. In that cemetery he lies 
buried by the side of his wife, with this beautiful inscription: 


“They were lovely in their lives, 
And in death they were not parted.” 


In the year 1857 St. Matthew’s leased to the Heidelberg School 
District the piece of ground from Carlisle Pike and reaching back 
to the other land of said congregation and grave yard, for ninety- 
nine years for one dollar. A school house now stands there. But 
this church has the privilege of using the school at any time for 
the preaching of funeral sermons. 


Rev. Bager served this congregation from 1753 until 1763, 
when he resigned to accept a call to St. John’s Lutheran Church, 
New York City. After a brief pastorate there, he assumed pas- 
toral charge of Christ Church, York, in 1767. Two years later 
he returned to this community and settled in the Pigeon Hills on 
a farm, and lived there until his death in 1791. He was pastor 
of this congregation the second time from 1777 until June 1, 1785, 
when his name appears for the last time in the annals of the church. 
Pastor Bager’s work is his monument. Muhlenberg called him 
“an orderly, learned, finely educated, regularly examined, and 
ordained by the highest consistorial authority.’”’ He is the an- 
cestor of the famous Bager family whose grandson and great 
grandson were well and favorably known in our Lutheran Church. 


It is worthy of note that when the second house of worship 
was dedicated, Palm Sunday, 1756, Pastor Bager read to the 
assembled gathering a declaration of the doctrinal basis of the 
congregation which asserts that the church was built by the 
Evangelical Lutherans, living on the Little Conewago, and was 
dedicated as the house of worship of the Evangelical Lutherans 
and their descendants then living in the neighborhood, as long as 
they remain true to the pure, genuine, and Unaltered Confession 
and other symbolical books. 

From 1765 to the return of Pastor Bager the congregation 
was under the care of the Rev. John Frederick Wildbahn, who 
resided in the neighborhood until 1782, and served nine congrega- 
tions at one time. He took formal charge in 1765 when the Stamp 
Act was passed, and left in 1782, the year which marked the close 
of the Revolutionary War. 

The town of Hanover was laid out in 1763, by Richard Mc- 
Allister. The congregation maintained an active and efficient 
parochial school during the seven years’ war, under the wise 
supervision of David Nicoky who received annually $150 for his 


ADAMS CoUNTY CONFERENCE 241 


services. The school occupied its own building where now stands 
the residence of C. M. Schaeffer, adjoining our church. 


—Hap MEN IN Six Wars— 


It is well to record here that St. Matthew’s has always been 
in the forefront of the nation’s defenders. It was loyal to George 
the Second when Braddock conducted his ill-fated army through 
this country. Five companies were recruited in York County, 
which then included Adams. At least twelve members of St. 
Matthew’s joined these provincial troops. During the Revolu- 
tionary War, St. Matthew’s had three Captains in the service, 
one of whom, Captain McArthur, was killed, another, Captain 
Nicholas Bittinger, captured. A large number of her members 
enlisted as privates. Peter Grumbine and Henry Felty served 
three years in the Continental Line, corresponding to the regular 
army today. Nicholas Gelwicks commanded a Company of As- 
sociates at the Battle of Brandywine and Germantown. Colonel 
Henry Schlegel, a son of Christopher Schlegel, was a man of great 
prominence during the Revolutionary period. In the war of 1812 
this church was represented by Captain John Bair who commanded 
a company of 40 men, nearly all members of this church. St. 
Matthew’s has been well represented in the Civil, the Spanish 
American and the recent World War. 


In 1782 the Rev. Daniel Schroeter became pastor of this 
church, but he left no records. No death or marriage records 
have been preserved from 1765 to 1790. There is no communioU 
list for the first fifty years of the church’s history. The congre- 
gation suffered greatly because for a period of six to eight years 
there was no regular pastor. General Peter Muhlenberg who had 
gone down to Virginia through this region, and had left his con- 
eregation at Woodstock and become a general in the Continental 
Army, had many companions and followers from these parts, loyal 
Lutherans who swelled the ranks of the Continental army on the 
battlefield. The Monocacy Road which led from Wrightsville to 
the Potomac river, passed through the newly laid out town of 
Hanover then known as McAllistersville, and became the main 
thoroughfare for the transportation of troops and munitions of 
war. A wave of scepticism and degeneracy swept over the country 
-after the war, as indeed it does after every war, and this section 
of the country was not immune. 


—THIRD CHURCH BUILDING— 


From 1790 to 1814, Rev. Frederick Valentine Melsheimer 
became pastor of the Hanover Church. At his first communion 
in May 18, 1790, 117 persons partook, the list is still preserved, 


242 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


and in 1814, 147 came to the table of the Lord. Not a very en- 
couraging increase in twenty-five years. The congregation still 
worshipped in their old church building northeast of town, but 
now after forty-five years it was found too small. In November, 
1801, it was resolved to erect a new church edifice. It was built 
where the present structure stands, and cost over $10,000. The 
lot was donated by Hon. Jacob Rudisill, who was a prominent 
citizen and an active worker in the church. His descendants are 
still members. It was dedicated in 1807, five years after the 
ground was broken for the foundation. The complete report of 
the building committee is in the church’s possession. The white 
spire containing the twin bells is the only part of the church still 
standing and was incorporated as a part of the fourth church 
building erected during the pastorate of the Rev. J. C. Koller, 
D. D. As you climb the steeple you notice its massive construc- 
tion, the walls being three feet thick and huge logs supporting the 
steps. Hanging in the old tower are the twin bells, which have 
been there since 1808. On the larger bell is this inscription, 
“George Hedderly cast us both in Philadelphia, in 1808.’’ On the 
smaller bell are the names of—‘‘Nicholas Gelwicks, and Peter 
Grumbine.”’” We have in our possession the receipt of George 
Hedderly for $569.40, in full for two bells. John Sholl received one 
pound, five shillings in full, for carriage of bells from Baltimore. 
The total cost of the steeple and the bells was $924.14, and the 
money was raised by means of a lottery. There is a well founded 
tradition that the women of the congregation carried the bricks 
and the mortar for the construction of the walls of the church and 
spire. Though the women labored so much for the church they 
were not allowed to vote at any election. In the year 1885 this 
restriction was removed. 

Rev. Frederick V. Melsheimer died on June 30, 1814, and 
lies buried in the Hanover grave yard. He was succeeded by 
his son, Rev. John FI. Melsheimer, who remained pastor until 
1826. He is said to have been an eloquent preacher in German, 
and was the first preacher to agitate the question of English 
preaching. 


—Tne First SUNDAY SCHOOL— 


In the month of October, 1821, an organization of the Sunday 

School was affected with the following officers: 

President—Rev. J. F. Melsheimer. 

V. President—Rev. J. F. Wiestling, of the German Re- 

formed congregation. 

Secretary—D. P. Lange. 

Treasurer—Henry Myers. 
This Sunday School was not a success and in a few years ceased 
operation. A second and permanent organization was brought 





ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 243 


about September 10, 1828. The Sunday School at first met with 
strong opposition and was not allowed to meet in the church 
building. 

Both Rev. Frederick Melsheimer and his son were celebrated 
botanists and entomologists, and had a library and extensive col- 
lections on these subjects. The elder Melsheimer published a well 
known catalogue, ‘Insects of Pennsylvania.’ It contained a 
description and classification of 1363 species of beetles, and was 
the first work of the kind ever published in America. Dr. Knoch 
of Germany published a book 1801, dedicated to the elder Mels- 
heimer, whom he called the “Father of American Entomology.” 
The Melsheimer collection was bought by Louis Agassiz for 
Harvard University. The collection filled forty-one wooden 
boxes, contained 5,302 species and 14,774 specimens. The di- 
mensions of the boxes were—104% x 14 x 2 in. 

Rev. John F. Melsheimer resigned the care of the pastorate 
in the year 1826, and died February 14, 1829, and now lies buried 
in Mt. Olivet Cemetery of this place. 

Our records give but little information in regard to this time. 
There are no minutes from which a solitary fact can be culled 
save the baptismal, marriage and communion register, and even 
that is unsatisfactory. In the year of 1815, his salary was nearly 
$400.00, which was an average of $2.50 per member. Philip Apple, 
the sexton, received $12.00 per year, and his duties were as follows, 
“To ring the bell as often as there shall be preaching or lectures 
held in the church; to make fire and keep the stove pipes clean, 
attend to the lighting of the candles, wash the church twice a 
year, a few days before Communion season, and on all other 
occasions to keep the church swept clean.” On August 10, 1844, 
the salary of the sexton was reduced from twelve to ten dollars. 
Jacob Harbin was the sexton at the time of the reduction in salary, 
and the term of all sextons was to expire in April so that if any 
one was not giving satisfaction, he would be discharged automatic- 
ally. In 1818 a pound of candles cost twenty-five cents. John 
Bange received four pounds, ten shillings for leading the hymns 
in the congregation in 1818. 


—Rev. JONATHAN RUTHRAUFF— 


In 1825 the Rev. Jonathan Ruthrauff became pastor of the 
Hanover charge at the age of twenty-eight years. The Hanover 
charge at this time consisted of Hanover, Abbottstown, St. John’s 
near Littlestown, and the Stone Church in Codorus, York County. 
His text for the inaugural sermon was, ‘I desire to know nothing 
among you save the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” He 
served here for eight years, and soon made himself a power in the 
community. He re-organized the Sunday School, introduced 
English preaching, began public Wednesday evening prayer 


244 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


services, and incorporated the church under the title of St. Mat- 
thew’s. Rev. Ruthrauff was a forceful and a fearless preacher. 
His boldness in denouncing the evils of the liquor traffic culmi- 
nated in an attempt at his assassination. 


—Rev. Jacosp ALBERT—- 


Rev. Jacob Albert began his ministry here on June 16, 1837, 
having been called here from the Manchester, Md , pastorate, and 
served the congregation successfully for eleven years. The 
records are meagre, and Dr. J. C. Koller states in his splendid 
history of St. Matthew’s that the great work Rev. Jacob Albert 
accomplished can be gathered only from the recollections of the 
people still living who were associated with him in his church 
work. According to these people, he was a magnetic preacher and 
possessed fine musical talent, both vocal and instrumental. After 
one of his impassioned sermons his powerful voice would ring out 
in the hymn until the whole congregation would catch the inspira- 
tion. He was succeeded as pastor here in April, 1848 by— 

Rev. Charles A. Hay, who came here from a four years pro- 
fessorship in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. His 
pastorate lasted but one year and one month, when he resigned to 
accept a call to the First Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Pa. 


—Rerv. D. P. RoSENMILLER— 


After a vacancy of two years, Rev. Rosenmiller was called 
from Dayton, Ohio, and assumed charge November, 1851. He 
remained pastor here for six years. His ministry at St. Matthew’s 
was not pleasant, his work was crippled by bitter opposition. 
On two or three occasions petitions were handed to the Church 
Council asking him to resign, but these were always rejected by 
the Council. However, at last a special congregational meeting 
was called by the council to vote the preacher out. As the op- 
position could only muster seventy-three votes out of two hundred 
and thirty-two the meeting failed to accomplish its purpose. In 
addition to his fearless preaching, he accomplished much along 
temporal lines. The parsonage which stood at the corner of Car- 
lisle and Railroad Streets, and had been continuously occupied as 
such since the elder Melsheimer’s time, was sold and the present 
location, at 55 Frederick Street was secured. He also organized 
the Dubbs’ congregation, and built their house of worship. Dur- 
ing his pastorate, The Act of Incorporation, which had been at- 
tempted twenty-five years previous, was at last formulated, and 
authorized by legal process. The charter enacts that the organi- 
zation shall be known as ““The First Evangelical Lutheran Church 
of Hanover.” It was re-adopted in September, 1858, after the 
name of the congregation had been changed from First Lutheran 


ADAMS CoUNTY CONFERENCE 245 


to St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran. On August 31, 1885, an 
enlarged revision of this charter was granted by the Court of 
York County. This revision removes the restriction on women 
voting, adding many other changes and improvements. On the 
sixth day of December, 1920, the Constitution and By-Laws of 
St. Matthew’s were further altered, amended and approved, by 
decree of the York County Courts. The revised Constitution as 
it now stands is the legally, carefully and prayerfully adopted rule 
of the congregation in matters of doctrine, polity and discipline. 
The Committee on Revision of the Church Constitution consisted 
of Rev. Ralph H. Bergstresser, D. D. Ehrhart, H. M. Rudisill, W. 
Clinton Shultz, G. Harry Shirk, C. E. Ehrehart. 


—Rev. M. J. ALLEMAN— 


Rev. M. J. Alleman began his pastorate, January 1, 1857, 
remained as pastor during the period of the Civil War, resigning 
January 1, 1865, to take charge of the newly organized congrega- 
tion of St. Mark’s, Hanover. For some years there had been an 
agitation among the people for the formation of a strictly English 
church. In December, 1863, a resolution Was passed by the coun- 
cil to build another church. Members of the congregation had 
unofficially circulated subscription lists for the purpose and re- 
ported on this date $6,000 with the promise of $2,000 more. This 
decided the matter, and St. Mark’s was begun. 


—Rev. SAMUEL YINGLING— 


On February 12, 1865, Rev. Samuel Yingling was called and 
took active charge July 3. He remained here for twelve years 
and served the congregation with great zeal and success. His 
ministry began amidst unusual discouragements. Many of the 
best workers and supporters of the church had gone over to St. 
Mark’s. The Sunday School was pitiably crippled. Some of the 
people were ready to predict ruin, but although the swarm may 
take the queen along, that only makes room for larger develop- 
ment to the remaining hive. St. Matthew’s soon adjusted herself 
to changed conditions, and the present vigorous growth dates its 
beginnings from the time of the swarm. After his resignation he 
remained in Hanover for some time, then removed to Columbia, 
Pa., where he died. He lies buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, this 
place. 


246 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


7 Ape, AOR MMe ine 


Rev. J. C. Koller was elected to 
St. Matthew’s, January 29, 1877, 
and began his pastorate here, March 
4, 1877. On the fly leaf of his first 
church record he makes the follow- 
ing statement: 

“In accepting the pastorship of 
St. Matthew’s I conscientiously 
felt myself actuated by no other 
motive than ‘to do the will of God’. 
There was not the shadow of a 
reason Why I should leave the Glen 
Rock pastorate—my first field of 
labor—in which God’s blessing was 
richly bestowed upon me and family 
as Well as pastoral work.” 

“During the last days of ’76, 
members in and out of the council of St. Matthew’s opened a 
correspondence entirely unsolicited and unexpected, looking to- 
wards my becoming their pastor. I declined to preach a trial 
sermon, and left the nee of election to be determined by the 





congregation, sumply agreeing to allow my name to come before 
them.’ The result was nanimous call. He preached his in- 
troductory sermon in English from Rom. 1:16, “I am not ashamed 
of the Gospel of Christ.” On the following Sunday in German 
from 1 Cor. 2:2. Thus began the longest and most fruitful pas- 
torate in the history of this historic church. For almost thirty 
years he labored here, and the congregation owes him a large debt 
of gratitude for his heroic and devoted and consecrated service 
in her behalf. 

Dr. Koller was prominent in the church at large. He was 
recognized as one of the ablest preachers, theologians and writers 
in the General Synod. He was President of the West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod for a period of three years, and also served as Sec- 
retary for the same length of time. For many years he was a 
member of the Board of Directors of the Gettysburg Seminary. 
For twenty years he was an honored member of the Board of Home 
Missions. He was also a member of the Board of Publication, 
for many years, and at the time of his death. From time to 
time he was a member of various important committees of the 
General Synod, and all the work entrusted to him was performed 
carefully and faithfully. He delivered the Holman Lecture on 
the twenty-first Article of the Augsburg Confession, ‘““The In- 
vocation of Saints,’ in 1886. He also wrote a history of St. 
Matthew’s Lutheran Church which was of great value in the prep- 
aration of this history. 


ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE QAT 


—lTourtH CuHurcH BuILDING— 





St. MatrHEw’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, FouRTH BUILDING, 
ERECTED 1878-1879; SHowInNGc OLD Tower Bui Lt 1806. 


Among the chief improvements in Dr. Koller’s ministr y may 
be mentioned (1) the cancellation of a long standing debt which had 
accumulated in the years previous to his ministry, and (2) the build- 
ing of the fourth house of worship. The agitation of this project 
was started in 1878. The building committee consisted of George 
W. Welsh, George D. Klinefelter, Daniel Geiselman, Charles FE. 
Eichelberger, and A. W. Forney. J. A. Dempwolf, York, was the 
Architect. The work was at once vigorously pr osecuted. On 
Whit-Monday the dismantling of the old building, which had stood 
for seventy-five years, was begun. The old tower was left stand- 
ing as a conspicuous landmark. The corner-stone for the new 
building was laid on August 3, Rev. Drs. M. Valentine and C. A. 
Hay officiating—the former in English, the latter in German, and 
the pastor read the liturgical service. Immediately the erection 
was pushed forward, so that by February 2, 1879, the lecture room 
was ready for dedication. Rev. Dr. A. W. Lilly, of York, preached 
English and the pastor German. ‘The completion of the audience 
room was effected by November 20th, on which day the dedication 
services took place amid the deep interest of the community and 


248 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


devout gratitude of the congregation. On Saturday, 2 p.m., Rev. 
John H. Menges preached German, and Rev. Daniel Steck, D. D., 
President of the West Pennsylvania Synod, in the evening. On 
Sunday morning, Rev. J. A. Brown, D. D., of the Gettysburg 
Seminary, preached the dedicatory sermon, and Rev. Charles 8S. 
Albert, son of Rev. Jacob Albert, in the evening. The pastor and 
the President of Synod performed the dedicatory services. The 
building, with all its furniture, organ and other arrangements, 
cost in round numbers, $22,000. (8) An addition to the parsonage 
was made in the spring of 1879 at an expense of over $300. (4) 
In the Fall and Winter of 1883-4 the old parsonage was removed 
and a modernized building erected at an expense of nearly $3,500, 
including all the conveniences of a comfortable home. (5) During 
1892-3 the spire was repaired and repainted, the primary depart- 
ment of the Sunday School remodeled with an extension of twenty- 
five feet, the adult department was rearranged, enlarged, carpeted 
and papered, and improvements made on the parsonage property 
at an expenditure of about $2,000 altogether. 


Other evidences of progress in the congregation since 1877 
are the organization of Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary 
Society, Ladies’ Aid Society, Luther Alliance, revision of the 
charter incorporation of the Sunday School, establishment of a 
thousand dollar fund for the Sunday School library, and numerous 
minor changes in the administration of work. 


Meanwhile the territory of St. Matthew’s has been very 
much contracted. For convenience sake some of the families on 
the outer boundaries have connected themselves with neighboring 
congregations. Many of the best members belonging to the 
Eastern portion colonized and formed the Mt. Carmel congrega- 
tion in 1886. Even a larger number in 1893 organized themselves 
into St. Paul’s of McSherrystown, Pa. A third Lutheran church 
in Hanover has also taken some of our members into its organiza- 
tion in 1892. During the ministry of Dr. Koller, special emphasis 
was laid on the faithful preaching of the Word, and the stated 
administration of the sacraments, the positive adherence to the 
doctrinal basis and Scriptural practice of the Lutheran Church. 
Dr. Koller introduced the Lutheran Common Service which is 
much appreciated by the congregation. This upright man and 
honored servant of the Lord Jesus Christ died at his home in 
Hanover, April 15, 1907, just nine months after he had resigned 
his pastorate. He was aged 67 years, 6 months, and 1 day. His 
entire ministry of forty years was spent within the bounds of the 
West Pennsylvania Synod and in York County. He is the father 
of Rev. Paul W. Koller, D. D. 


In the year 1905, Rev. E. C. Ruby was called as assistant 
pastor, and served in that capacity until February 1, 1906, when 
he resigned. 


ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE 249 


—Reyv. A. M. HemMan— 


Rev. A. M. Heilman was called from his pastorate in Shrews- 
bury, Pa., and took active charge of this field September 1, 1906. 
During his pastorate, the Primary Sunday School building was 
annexed to the church, and a three manual Moller organ with 
chimes and echo organ was installed. The congregation grew 
rapidly in numbers during his ten years’ service. The communi- 
cant membership increased from 807 to 1065. The confirmed 
membership from 1015 to 1350. The baptized membership from 
1350 to 1890. The value of the church property increased from 
$35,000 to $55,000. Rev. Heilman resigned December 20, 1916, 
to accept a call to Grace Lutheran Church, Chicago. He died in 
Chicago, October 15, 1925, aged 58 years, and was buried in Pros- 
pect Hill Cemetery, York, Pa. 


—THeE MINIstTrRY OF Rev. RauteH H. BERGSTRESSER— 


The present pastor accepted the call to this congregation, 
coming here from Bethany Lutheran Church, Altoona, Pa., June 
1, 1917. The finances were placed upon a sound basis by adopt- 
ing the Duplex Envelopes for both Church and Sunday School. 
Previous to this time, the pastor’s salary was collected by the 
janitor on a commission basis. The result of the new system was 
eratifying from the start, and St. Matthew’s began to meet all 
her obligations promptly and to pay her full apportionment with 
excess for the first time in her history. 


—FHtrrn Cuurcu BuILtpINGc— 


For some time it was evident to all that the church building 
was becoming too small to accommodate the large and growing 
congregation, and an agitation was begun to enlarge or rebuild. 
After full and free discussion, 1t was finally resolved to build an 
entire new structure, the building operation to consist of two units, 
the church auditorium, and the Sunday School building. It was 
decided to build the auditorium first on the large vacant plot 
belonging to the church and adjoining the old structure, and to 
use the old building for Sunday School purposes entirely until 
such time when the new Sunday School unit should be annexed 
to the church auditorium. 

The Building Committee consisted of D. D. Ehrhart, Martin 
Moul, E. K. Eichelberger, Henry Shaeffer, Samuel Witmer, John 
W. Mumper, and the Pastor. Messrs. Richter & Eiler were ap- 
pointed Architects. Mr. J. W. Mumper died, May 5, 1921, and 
Mr. C. E. Ehrhart was appointed to fill the vacancy. Sealed bids 
for the first unit were opened, July 3, 1922, and the contract was 
awarded to Mr. O. H. Hostetter, Hanover, the lowest bidder, for 
$159,600. Work proceeded at once. The ground was broken 


250 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


July 16, 1922. The corner stone was laid on November 19, 
1922, before an assembly estimated at 2000. The Rev. A. R. 
Steck, D. D., preached the sermon and the pastor read the liturgical 
service. All the pastors of Hanover were present and had a part 
in the service. Many Lutheran clergymen from. neighboring 
towns were also in attendance. 

The church is constructed of Mt. Airy Coane (NE VOR 
with stone trim of cast or concrete stone, of light Indiana lime 
stone color, now used in the largest city buildings. The two kinds 
of stone harmonize perfectly. The material used throughout is 
the most durable, even all the window frames being of stone. 
The architecture is Gothic, with which the interior corresponds. 
The general design with its fine architectural lines and artistic 
decorations appeals to the sense of beauty. The tower is massive, 





St. MATTHEW'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, HANOVER, PA. 
(PRESENT BUILDING) 


and is the crowning feature of the beautiful front. The main 
auditorium will seat 1000, and when the Sunday School unit is: 
added, the seating capacity will be twenty-five hundred. The 
large basement under the entire church is equally beautiful, and 
will be practically equipped for assembly purposes. The church. 
is equipped with a four manual Austin organ, having 97 stops, 
and a solo organ, chimes, and an echo organ. Two full manuals. 
are placed in the gallery. There is a marble chancel and altar with 
a reredos extending 13 ft. high. The interior woodwork is oak, 
stained dark, and the pews are solid walnut. The total cost of 
the first unit, including the Memorial Organ and Memorial 
Chancel and Altar, is $290,000. ‘This does not include the value 
of the land. 
The dedication services were held September 28, 1924. 


ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE 251 


The following is a summary of the seven years’ pastorate of 
Rev. Bergstresser to the date of sending this copy: 


MPOLALeCE tracy <. Sas tke tee aire geccwce sts 7 A keh $288,700 
BIGUALeMnL atl CSA LISTS: (apnea Peete ees Naren! 386 
PeOLAMACUIt DADLISIIS <5 ae cae eeeemnr  eeeg eet. ey Ae 60 
Totalconfirmations, letters andsrenewals. 2 ....0 20.0%... 718 
Total received into the Church including infant baptisms 1,164 
INUIT De OlghUneralgn es es Vee emmenn kere: en me Oe gANT AE, ie ot 238 
iN UmberOl baptized members. mre eect ae Acad. 3) ket 2,300 
Number, OL COnlrmed: MeMbersvey ares: tA et erie, 1,820 
Munvoen OmcOmMmmunicantiaemn berss. | vier a2. ua wee or eee 1,654 





REV. OSCAR CARLTON DEAN, A. M. 


(Pastor OF St. Pauw’s LUTHERAN CHURCH) 


The subject of this sketch was 
born on a farm near Middletown 
Valley, on August 5, 1883, the 
fourth child of Carlton Henry 
Dean and Ava Coblentz Dean. 
He was baptized in infancy into 
Zion Lutheran Church at Mid- 
dletown, Maryland, by Rev. 
Peter Bergstresser, D. D. In 
the spring of 1897 he was con- 
firmed by Rev. M. L. Beard. 
His higher education was receiv- 
ed at the Boys’ High School at 
Frederick and the Middletown 
High School. During the winter 
of 1903 and 1904 he taught in 
Frederick County. In the spring 
of 1904 he entered Frederick Col- 
lege at Frederick, Maryland, and 
prepared for college. The fall of that same year he entered Penn- 
sylvania College at Gettysburg and graduated in 1908. In the 
fall of that year he entered the Theological Seminary there and 
eraduated there in 1911. 

During the summer of 1909 he served as supply pastor of 
the Burkittsville pastorate of the Maryland Synod. The follow- 
ing summer he supplied the pulpit of the Accident Pastorate of 
the Maryland Synod. He was licensed to preach by the Maryland 
Synod at Smithsburg in 1910, and was ordained by the same Synod 
at Taneytown in the following year. In the spring of 1911 he 
accepted a call to become pastor of the Accident Pastorate and 





Doe History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


began his work here April 1, 1911. In the spring of 1912 the new 
Synod of West Virginia was organized and Rev. Dean became 
one of the leaders in this new body. Rev. Dean accepted a call 
to Trinity Lutheran Church of Wheeling, West Virginia, and en- 
tered upon this work January 1, 1913. Here he served over six 
years and during this time almost doubled the membership of 
this congregation. A new parsonage was purchased and a fine 
new church built, all at a cost of about $60,000. 


June Ist, 1919 he was called to become pastor of St. Paul’s 
Lutheran Congregation, Bucyrus, Ohio and having accepted the 
call, began his work there July Ist, 1919. His pastorate at Bucy- 
rus was marked by advancement in all departments of the church 
life, the most noticeable being in Inner Mission Work and work 
among boys. During his pastorate here, he served two terms as 
Chairman of the Inner Mission Board of the Synod of Ohio. He 
also sent into the Inner Mission work at large two of the young 
ladies of his congregation, Miss Olga Winegardner, now serving 
at Toledo, Ohio, and Miss Blanche Bauer, now in training at the 
Deaconess Mother House at Baltimore, Maryland. 


Rev. Dean, while at Bucyrus, served five years as President 
of the Bucyrus Council Boy Scouts of America. In this capacity 
he succeeded in having erected on Sugar Grove Lake, a log cabin, 
for the further development of the work among boys. He was 
also a leader in the work of developing religious education in the 
public schools, and was the first President of the Crawford County 
Board of Religious Education. This board succeeded in placing 
religious instruction in nearly all the public schools of the County. 
After a pastorate of over five years at Bucyrus, Rev. Dean was 
called to St. Paul’s Lutheran pastorate, Hanover, Pa. He ac- 
cepted the call and entered upon his ministry there, August 15, 
1924. 


Rey. Dean was united in marriage with Bertha Margarette 
Chuck, of Uniontown, Pa. on September 3rd, 1913. One son, 
Paul Mitchell Dean, now ten years old, has been born to them. 


During his ministry, Rev. Dean has been honored by the 
following offices: 1910-11 he was Secretary-Treasurer of the Alle- 
gheny Conference of the Maryland Synod; 1912-13 he was Presi- 
dent of the Conference of the Synod of West Virginia; 1915-17 
he was President of the Synod of West Virginia; 1918-19 Director 
of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, from the Synod of 
West Virginia. In 1918 he represented the Synod of West Virginia 
at the Lutheran Merger Convention at New York City. In the 
Synod of Ohio, besides those offices mentioned above, he served 
as a member of the Board of Home Missions. 


ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE hay 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, HANOVER, PA. 
Rev. Oscar C. Dan, PASTOR 








ST. PAUL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, HANOVER, PA. 


St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was organized, December 17th, 
1890. There were thirty-eight charter members, most of whom 
formerly belonged to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church of Hanover. 
The organization meeting was held in Concert Hall, on the Public 
Square. At a subsequent meeting in the same place, the Rev. 
Daniel Schindler, D. D., was unanimously elected as the first 
pastor. He served the congregation most acceptably until June 
28, 1893, when he was removed by death. Dr. Schindler was a 
preacher of great force and power, and was also gifted as a lec- 
turer and debater. He was deeply respected by his congregation, 
and was held in high regard by his fellow citizens. During his 
pastorate the present edifice was built. He labored with untiring 
zeal to secure funds to liquidate the debt and to increase the 
membership. 

The second pastor was the Rev. Samuel Herring. He began 
his ministry October Ist, 1893, and served the congregation faith- 
fully until June 19, 1899. He directed his energies during his 
pastorate to the erecting of a parsonage and liquidating the chur ch 
debt. 


254 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rev. Herman 8. Cook was the third pastor. He was installed 
November Ist, 1899, and resigned August 31st, 1904. 

Rev. A. C. Forscht, the fourth pastor, was installed Sep- 
tember 18, 1904, and served until August 25th, 1908. During his 
ministry a Junior Sunday School room was built and the church 
auditorium was enlarged and beautified. 

Rev. William I. Redeay, Ph. D.. the fifth pastor, was in- 
stalled, November Ist, 1908, and served until April 6th, 1924. 
During his ministry, the indebtedness was liquidated and the 
church property repaired. <A pipe organ was installed at a cost 
of $3300. The old parsonage was sold and the present splendid 
parsonage purchased. 

The present pastor, Rev. Oscar C. Dean began his pastorate, 
August 15th, 1924. The membership of the congregation has in- 
creased from 263 to over 500, during this pastorate, 184 new 
members having been added and many memberships renewed. 
The Sunday School has greatly increased, and passed the 600 
enrollment mark at Easter, 1925, with an enrollment of 614. A 
gallery was built in the rear of the church, a new lighting system 
installed, new comfort room built in the basement, new Common 
Service Books purchased for the church and new song books for 
the Sunday School and other improvements made. The congre- 
gation is very enthusiastic, and is moving unitedly forward toward 
a new and enlarged program. 


REV. JOHN I. HUMMER 
(PasTOR OF THE LITTLESTOWN CHARGE) 


The subject of this sketch was 
born at Middaughs, Northum- 
berland County, Pennsylvania, 
February 2nd, 1873, the son of 
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hummer. 
He was confirmed in Trinity 
Lutheran Church, Martins Creek, 
Penna., by Rev. William Hesse, 
D. D. He prepared for College 
at Selinsgrove and Easton, Pa., 
entered Gettysburg College in 
September 1896 and was gradu- 
ated on June 30th, 1900. In 
September of the same year he 
entered the Seminary at Gettys- 
burg and on May 28th, 1903, was 
eraduated from this institution. 
His first pastorate was at Tan- 
nersville, Pa., of which he took 
charge on June Ist, 1903. From Tannersville he moved to Glen 





ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 255 


Gardner, New Jersey, and from there to Oberlin, Pa. Then, be- 
cause of the illness of Mrs. Hummer’s father, he returned to 
Bartonsville, Penna., and served the Tannersville Charge again 
until the death of Mr. Neyhart. He then accepted a call to the 
Seven Valley Charge, and successfully served also the Lutheran 
Pastorates at Mt. Carmel, Pa., Manchester, Pa., the Lyons- 
Bernville Charge, and since March 23rd of the present year has 
been pastor of Grace, St. John’s and St. Luke’s Churches of the 
Littlestown Charge of this Synod. 


GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH, TWO TAVERNS, PA. 
(LITTLESTOWN CHARGE) 


Rev. J. I. Hummer, Pastor 





GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH, Two TAVERNS, Pa. 


The corner stone of Grace Lutheran Church, Two Taverns, 
Adams County, was laid with appropriate service on August 12, 
1877, by the Pastor of St. John’s Charge, Rev. E. J. Metzler. The 
building of the church was pushed forward with great vigor and 
was dedicated for divine services on Sunday, November 25, 1877; 
Rev. Dr. Chas. A. Hay of the Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, 
preaching the dedicatory sermon, and Rev. Yingling, of Hanover, 
assisting the Pastor, Rev. E. J. Metzler, in the liturgical services. 

The charter members who entered into the new organization 
were 60, fifty of whom were dismissed from St. Luke’s Lutheran 
congregation, near White Hall, six from St. John’s Lutheran 
church, near Littlestown, and four from Mt. Joy congregation. 

The first communion of the new organization was held on 
December 12, 1877, when seventy-one communicants are recorded 
as having partaken of the Lord’s Supper. The first class of 


256 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


catechumens, numbering 16, were confirmed on this day and re- 
ceived into the fellowship of the congregation. 

Rev. Metzler resigned in the spring of 1888, after a ministry 
over this congregation of ten years and three months. During 
this time the membership included 210 persons, with a net mem- 
bership of 142 at the close of his pastorate. The church grew 
largely by the addition of members from St. Luke’s, St. John’s, 
St. James’, Gettysburg, and other Lutheran congregations. 

Rev. E. J. Metzler was succeeded by Rev. D. R. Becker, 
July 1, 1888, who took charge of Grace church, but resigned in 
September, 1892. During his pastorate the membership grew to 
170. He was succeeded by Rev. W. C. Wire, who took charge 
March 21, 1893, and died very suddenly April 20, 1897, after a 
pastorate of four years and one month. The names enrolled at 
the close of Rev. Wire’s administration numbered 248. 

Rev. Wire was succeeded by Rev. L. A. Mann, D. D., October 
1, 1897. The whole number of enrolled membership was 309. 

The Rev. C. P. Bastian followed the Rev. Dr. L. A. Mann in 
the spring of 1903 and remained in the charge until 1909, during 
which time the Sunday School room was built and new furniture 
placed in the church. The Rev. Carl Mumford followed the Rev. 
C. P. Bastian and remained in this congregation until 1910. 

Rev. Carl Mumford resigned and he was followed by Rev. I. 
M. Lau who was pastor from 1911 to 1922. Rev. I. M. Lau was 
followed by Rev. George Eveler who resigned on January 15, 
1925, when the Rev. J. I. Hummer was elected. 


ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, LITTLESTOWN, PA. 
(LITTLESTOWN CHARGE) 


Rev. J. I. Hummer, Pastor 


St. John’s Lutheran congregation near Littlestown was or- 
ganized November 18, 17638, by Rev. Carl Frederick Wildbahn, 
who was the teacher of the parochial school of St. Michaels. The 
church was a log building, ‘“‘the organization was effected in 1763, 
the land deeded to the church in 1768, in which Jacob Stehly and 
wife” convey the lot tract on which the High German Lutheran 
Church is erected and built, for the nominal sum of 5 shillings. 

Solomon Menges and John Mehring purchased May 3\st, 
1852, two acres and fifteen perches of land from William McSherry 
for a hitching yard for $190.90. In 1857 a new charge was formed, 
consisting of St. John’s, St. Mary’s and St. Luke’s Churches. In 
1860 the lot was purchased on Frederick Street, and the parsonage 
erected, and in 1867 St. Paul’s Church of Littlestown was erected 
and a new congregation organized. The walls of the old church 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 257 


became unsafe and the present church was erected on the old 
site in 1874, and in 1877 Grace Church, Two Taverns, was built 
and a new congregation organized from members of St. Luke’s 
and St. John’s Churches. 

Thus the mother of Lutheranism in the lower part of the 
County has lived and sent out colonies of Lutherans in this vi- 
cinity for a period of 162 years, and from the beginning until now 
has been served by twenty ministers. 

Carl Frederick Wildbahn, catechist, took charge of the 
church in the neighborhood of Hanover in 1765. The records of 
the Pennsylvania Ministertum show that in 1768 letters were re- 





ST. JOHNS LUTHERAN CHURCH, LITTLESTOWN, PA. 


ceived from 5 or 6 small congregations, on the Maryland and 
Pennsylvania. border, in which they requested that the Ministerium 
receive into their union their Catechist Wildbaun, and ordain him. 
In 1769 the churches were received into the Ministerium, and he 
was ordained. He served these churches until 1782 when he ac- 
cepted a call to Reading. 

Sometime after Wildbahn left in 1782 the work was taken 
up by John Daniel Schroetter. He was licensed by the Pennsyl- 
vania Ministerium in 1777. In 1782, he came to MecAllistertown 
(Hanover). From this place he served a large circuit of congre- 
gations, at times preaching in Baltimore. His career in the min- 


258 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


istry seems to have been somewhat checkered. He served St. 
John’s in an independent capacity until at least 1806. Sometime 
in the year 1803 the Rev. John G. Grubb came to the Taneytown 
charge. He was one of the organizers of the Maryland Synod in 
1820 and was a member of the committee to draw up a constitution 
for it. After 1819 he served only three churches, Taneytown, 
Emmittsburg, Petersburg and St. John’s, Littlestown, Pa. 

The close of Rev. Grubb’s ministry in 1825 was evidently 
much disturbed by intestine broils and disaffection; in that year 
part of the congregation became dissatisfied and built a log church 
on the south side of the Taneytown road on the farm owned by 
David Mehring; the congregation was short lived and was finally 
abandoned and the building was torn down. 

Rev. G. R. Hoffman was pastor from 1826 to 1830. During 
his pastorate the second church was built, of brick, in 1829-31, on 
the present site. 

Rev. Jonathan Rothrauff came here from Lewistown, Pa.., 
and although only 28 years of age, he was soon recognized as a 
power in the community. He was a wide-awake, progressive and 
devoted pastor in this charge, which then consisted of Hanover, 
Abbottstown, St. John’s and the Stone Church in Codorus, York 
County. He introduced English preaching and organized Luth- 
eran Sunday School Societies, and advocated public prayer meet- 
ings. His pastorate covered the years 1830-1837. 

In 18387, Rev. Jacob Albert received a call from Hanover, 
Pa., and accepted it. This included St. John’s. 

The ministry of Rev. Jacob Albert was a marked one, during 
which occurred the great awakening in 1842-3, the building of St. 
Luke’s Church (Union) near Bonneauville in 1846, the adoption 
of the General Synod’s formula of church government, and the 
introduction of the English language. His pastorate continued 
until 1848. 

Rev. C. A. Hay, D. D., came to this congregation from our 
own schools and was a very brilliant man. He spent two years 
in several German universities and was a professor in our Theo- 
logical Seminary, at Gettysburg. Although his stay was brief 
(until 1849) he never failed to show interest in the congregations 
he once served. 

Tn 1849, Rev. D. P. Rosenmiller was called as pastor from 
Dayton, Ohio, and served the charge for a period of six years, at 
the end of which time he resigned on account of repeated mis- 
representations. His ministry was crippled by opposition and all 
sorts of petty, but discouraging interferences. 

Rev. M. J. Alleman, was the faithful and able pastor 1856- 
1857; Rev. Frederick Rothrauff, 1857-1858; Rev. Samuel Henry, 
1859-1867. It was during his pastorate that a number of the 
members decided to withdraw and organize a congregation and 
build a new church home for themselves. Thus at this time St. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 259 


Paul’s, of Littlestown, was organized and in its early days united 
with St. Luke’s, of Red Land, the two constituting a charge for 
a period of several years. 

Rey. P. P. Lane was pastor 1868-1869. Here is another ser- 
vant whose labors with this congregation were of a short duration 
of time. From the records, however, we infer that he was no 
idler and exercised discretion in keeping the same. There are 
some of the older members who remember him and all that we have 
heard was quite favorable, thus proving that his efforts were put 
forth in good faith and at the same time were accepted with favor. 


Rev. L. T. Williams came in 1870 and served as pastor until 
1874. Due to the fact that the walls of the old church were 
pronounced unsafe it was decided that it be replaced by a new 
church building. It was during his pastorate that the present 
edifice was erected in 1874. 


Rev. E. J. Metzler was born in Conewago Township, Adams 
County, Pa. He evidently was held in high esteem in his home 
community, for we are told St. John’s was his first charge, which 
he served with marked success from 1875-1888. It was during 
his pastorate that Grace Church, Two Taverns, Pa., was built 
and the congregation organized. 


Rev. D. R. Becker took charge of St. John’s pastorate on 
the first of July, 1888; and continued his work until the year 1898. 

Rev. W. C. Wire took charge of St. John’s pastorate on the 
21st day of March, 1893. 


From 1897 to 1903 St. John’s charge was served by the Rev. 
L. A. Mann, D. D.; from 1903-1907 by Rev. C. P. Bastian. 


Rev. Carl Mumford began his ministry of St. John’s Church 
June 30, 1907, and closed the same October 2, 1910. The three 
years and three and one-half months of this pastorate saw many 
improvements to the church property, namely, renovation of in- 
terior of parsonage, grading and fencing of cemetery, etc. The 
finances were in excellent condition, the spirit of benevolence 
growing, the membership increasing and things generally in a 
happy state. 


The facts for this sketch have been gathered from a sesqui- 
centennial souvenir pamphlet that was prepared by the Rev. I. 
M. Lau. He became the pastor of this charge on January 1, 
1911, and continued to serve with energy and success until Au- 
gust, 1921. His successor was the Rev. G. H. Eveler, whose 
pastorate covered the years from 1922 to January, 1925. 

The present pastor, the Rev. J. I. Hummer, entered upon his 
duties March 23, 1925. 

Three of the sons of St. John’s Church have entered the 
Lutheran ministry, the Revs. A. 8. Hartman, D. D., Austin A 
Kelley and Robert E. Peterman. 


260 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST. LUKE’S LUTHERAN CHURCH 


(LITTLESTOWN CHARGE) 


Rev. J. [. Hummer, Pastor 





ST. LUKE’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, ADAMS Co., Pa. 


St. Luke’s Lutheran Church was organized during the event- 
ful pastorate of Rev. Jacob Albert of the St. John’s, Littlestown 
Charge, in 1846. The church records that can be found are very 
meager. This congregation has during all its history been served 
by the regular pastors of the Charge, whose activities are recorded 
in connection with the historical sketch of St. John’s Lutheran 
Church of Littlestown. 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 261 


REV. DAVID 8. KAMMERER 
(PASTOR OF St. Paut’s LUTHERAN CHURCH) 


Rev. David 8. Kammerer was 
born July 5, 1891, at Harrisburg, 
Pa. He was catechized and con- 
firmed by the Rev. M. P. Hocker, 
Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran 
church, Steelton, Pa., April 23, 
1905. In the year of 1908 he 
became a member of the Salem 
Lutheran church, Oberlin, Pa. 
It was here under the teaching of 
Rev. Daniel E. Rupley, that he 
became desirous of becoming a 
Christian minister, and conse- 
quently finally entered the Acad- 
emy of Susquehanna University, 
Selinsgrove, Pa., January, 1912, 
and graduated from the College, 
in the year of 1916. After three 
years of study in the Theological 
Seminary at Selinsgrove, Pa., he 
was ordained by the Susquehanna Synod in convention at Mt. 
Carmel, Pa., May 22, 1919. 

June 3, 1918, just one year prior to his ordination into the 
Christian ministry he was invited to become the ‘‘supply”’ pastor 
of Union Pastorate, Union County, Pa., and was later, after having 
been ordained, installed as the pastor of the charge. After a very 
happy and fruitful ministry of three and one half years, he ac- 
cepted a unanimous call to become pastor of Trinity Lutheran 
church, Sunbury, Pa., and entered upon the work there December 
1, 1921. Here the Lord greatly blessed his efforts; the member- 
ship was all but doubled and nearly four thousand dollars was 
raised for a proposed new building. His ministry here, however, 
was destined to be short-lived for having received a unanimous 
call from St. Paul’s Lutheran church, Littlestown, Pa., he resigned 
the Sunbury pastorate and entered upon his present field of labor 
Aprli 15, 1925. 





ST. PAUL’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
LIP EES TOWN PA: 


(Rev. D. 8S. KAMMERER, Pastor) 
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Littlestown, 


Pa., was organized October 31, 1867, when about one hundred 
members from St. John’s Lutheran Church, of Littlestown, under 


262 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the leadership of Rev. Samuel Henry, then pastor of St. John’s 
Charge, decided that a congregation meeting in the town itself 
instead of at the edge of town would be more conducive to the 





St. PAuL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH 
LITTLESTOWN, PA. 


erowth of Lutheranism. The following ministers have served as 
pastors of this congregation: 

Rev. Samuel Henry—1867-1869; 

Rev. M. J. Alleman—1869-1874; 

Rev. J. W. Lake—1875-1877; 

Rev. E. D. Weigle—1877-1887 ; 

Rev. W. C. Wire—1887-1892; 


ADAMS CoUNTY CONFERENCE 263 


Rev. E. E. Blint—1893-1905; 

Rev. J. J. Hill-—-1906-1916; 

Rev. W. K. Fleck—1917-1918; 

Rev. H. C. Bergstresser—1918-1925; 
Rev. D. 8. Kammerer—1925-. 





REV. B. K. MOWRER 
(Pastor oF Mt. CarMEL LUTHERAN CHARGE) 


The subject of this sketch was 
born in Strasburg Township, 
Lancaster County, Pa., Decem- 
ber 29, 1867, the son of Benjamin 
R. and Anna Mowrer. Huis fa- 
ther was a stone-mason. Both 
parents were consistent mem- 
bers of the Old Menonite Church; 
and the home was one where 
God’s name was always rever- 
enced and his daily gifts grate- 
fully acknowledged. Mr. Mow- 
rer attended the public schools 
and worked on the farm until 
the age of seventeen. He then 
entered the foundry as an ap- 
prentice moulder in the city of 
Lancaster, Pa. At the age of 
nineteen he united with the Evan- 
gelical Church of that city and at once became active in all the 
affairs of the congregation. His first definite work was teaching 
a class of unruly boys in the early teen age, with at least partial 
success. It was here that he got the vision of possible greater 
service for Christ, and began preparing for the ministry in ac- 
cordance with the usages of that church. He was licensed to 
preach at Lebanon, Pa., February 22, 1892, by the East Pennsyl- 
vania Conference of the Evangelical Church, and the same year 
was appointed pastor of Lykens Charge, Lykens, Dauphin County, 
Pa., which he served one year. During 1893 and 1894 he served 
White Haven Mission, White-Haven, Luzerne County, Pa. In 
1895 he located in Lancaster, on account of ill health, returning 
for a time to the foundry and doing supply work. February 24, 
1900, he was ordained deacon, in Lancaster, Pa., after several 
years of supply work. He entered the Central Pennsylvania 
Conference and began active work again, serving at Dorsey, 
Maryland, two years and at Hanover, Pa., two years, when again 
he was compelled to quit the active ministry on account of over 





264 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


work, becoming a salesman for several years, and doing supply 
work. 

In 1919, he began as regular supply of Mt. Carmel Charge, 
made application for admission to the West Pennsylvania Synod, 
and was received at the sessions at Chambersburg, Pa., October 
13, 1920, as per act of Synod (Page 65 of minutes), ‘““That when 
B. Kk. Mowrer shall have become a member of the United Lutheran 
Church, the officers of this Synod be authorized to grant him 
licensure to preach, etc.” 

He united with Mt. Carmel Congregation October 31, 1920. 
The service of licensure was conducted by the officers of Synod 
in St. John’s (Franklin) Church, Dillsburg Charge, November 9, 
1920; ordained at Carlisle, Pa., October 12, 1921. 

February 6, 1890, he was married to Miss Kate Kauffman, of 
Millersville, Pa. Four children were born to this union, three 
sons and one daughter, all of whom are living and married. 


MT. CARMEL LUTHERAN CHARGE 
(Rev. B. K. Mowrgr, Pastor) 





Mt. CARMEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


Mt. Carmel Lutheran Charge is composed of two Churches, 
Mt. Carmel and St. Paul’s (New Baltimore), situated in Heidel- 
berg and Penn Townships, York County, Pa. 

Mt. Carmel congregation is the outgrowth of a Sunday School 
which was organized about 1870, first known as Sunny Side Sun- 
day School, later changed to Mt. Carmel. The first meeting place 
was in the Sunday School chapel which was built in 1880. The 


ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 265 


congregation was organized May 20, 1886, with 18 charter mem- 
bers, all of whom were formerly members of St. Matthew’s Luth- 


eran Congregation of Hanover 





Jacop H. Mout 
Rey. John Albert Metzger, became the first pastor, serving this 


congregation with West Manhe 


a graduate of Gettysburg (1883). 


pastor of Mt. Carmel and New 
tions, and continued until his 
Geatiween priles2ndis yL909%) Eis 
widow, Mrs. Mary C. Metzger, 
is a member of the congregation 
and is held in high esteem by all 
who know her. The _ present 
membership is 1389. In 1905 a 
new brick church was built. 

St. Paul’s (New Baltimore) 
Congregation was organized Aug- 
ust 28, 1898. The first officers 
were: Elders, Andrew Rudisill and 
Charles F. Eichelberger; Deacons, 
Joseph Myers and H. M. Becker; 
Trustee, Elias Becker. Incorpo- 
rated April 30, 1906. May 3, 1904 
Mr. Andrew Rudisill and wife, 


, Pa. The first officers were: 
Elders, Josiah Moul, Sr., and 
Charles F. Eichelberger; Dea- 
cons, Rolandus M. Moul and 
Israel Hale. Of the charter mem- 
bers the following are members 
in good standing at this writing: 
J. Enery Moul, Rolandus M. 
Moul, Clinton R. Moul, Milton 
Moul, Ellen Moul (Mrs. Milton) 
and Jacob H. Moul; the last 
named, whose picture appears 
herewith, was awarded a medal 
by the State Sunday School As- 
sociation at Lancaster, Pa., 1922, 
for fifty years of continuous ser- 
vice as teacher and Superinten- 
dent of Sunday School. The 


im Charge. Rev. Metzger was 
June 1, 1908, he became the 
Baltimore (St. Paul’s) congrega- 





Rev. J:cA?- METZGER 


Magdalena, bequeathed to St. Paul’s congregation a property 
adjoining the Church, improved with a two story brick house to 
be used as a parsonage, which is occupied by the present pastor. 
Rev. Ferdinand Hesse became supply pastor, October 2, 1898, 
continuing until October 12, 1902. Rev. R. H. Clare served from 


266 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


October 19, 1902 until June 1, 1908, at which time Mt. Carmel 
and St. Paul’s were constituted a separate field and Rev. J. A. 
Metzger became the pastor. After the death of Rev. Metzger 





ST. PAGL’S, LUTHERAN CHURCH 
NY ORK GOneiaS 


Rey. 8S. A. Diehl became pastor October 1, 1909, and served until 
June 1, 1920 when he resigned on account of failing health. 


On account of Rev. Diehl’s 
failing health, Rev. B. K. Mow- 
rer began to supply Mt. Carmel 
congregation, November 30, 1919. 
A call was extended and accepted 
by him December 28, 1920, ef- 
fective January 1, 1921. 

The present membership of St. 
Paul’s is 77 (confirmed). This 
congregation has before it a 
bright future, as the community 
is growing rapidly and this is the 
only church in the vicinity. 








REVe ese Dig 


Apams County CONFERENCE 267 


REV. LESLIE K. YOUNG 
(Pastor oF THE Mt. Joy CHARGE) 


Leshe Kauffman Young, born 
July 11, 1884, at Keller’s Mull, 
Franklin County, Pa., is one of 
eleven children born to Hiram 
and Anna Stickell Young. He 
was baptized by the Rev. Fred- 
erick Klinefelter, pastor of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
Greencastle, Pa., and in the 
same church was confirmed April 
24, 1898, by the pastor, Rev. T. 
O. Keister. His early education 
Was secured in various public 
schools in Franklin County. He 
entered the Chambersburg Acad- 
emy in the fall of 1904, graduat- 
ing with the class of 1906. His 
studies were continued in Penn- 
sylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., 
graduating from this institution with the class of 1910, receiving 
the B. A. degree. October, 1912, he was licensed by the Lutheran 
Synod of West Pennsylvania. May, 1913, he completed the three 
years’ course of study at the Gettysburg Theological Seminary 
and having accepted a call to become pastor of the Accident 
Pastorate, Garrett County, Md., entered into the active work of 
the ministry June 1, of that year. October 12, 1913, he was or- 
dained by the Synod of West Virginia, at Accident, Garrett 
County, Md. He continued as pastor of this charge until August 1, 
1920, at which time he entered upon his work in the Mt. Joy 
Charge, Adams County, Pa., which he still serves. August 10, 
1914, at Keyser, West Virginia, he was married to Effie Helena 
Fox, daughter of Frederick and Sarah Alberta Fox, of Friends- 
ville, Md. To this union, five children were born, Anna Elizabeth, 
Grace Alberta, Frances Helena, Mary Louise and Leslie Miller. 





MT. JOY LUTHERAN CHURCH 
(Mr. Joy CHARGE) 


Rey. L. K. Youne, Pastor 
The Mt. Joy Parish is composed of two congregations: Mt. 


Joy, which is located on the Taneytown road, six miles south of 
Gettysburg, in Mt. Joy Township, Adams County, Pa., and St. 


268 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Paul’s, in Harney, Carroll County, Md. This Charge was origin- 
ally a part of the Maryland Synod, but at the meeting of that 
Synod at Washington, D. ‘C., in October, 1881, the Charge in 
response to 1s own petition was formally transferred to the Synod 
of West Pennsylvania. 

July 22,2135 hevewon 
Sentman, pastor of the 
Lutheran Church in Taney- 
town, Md., met with a 
number of the Lutheran 
brethren, on the spot now 
belonging to the Mt. Joy 
Lutheran Church, to con- 
sider the advisability of 
forming a new congregation. 
Those present at this meet- 
ing were Rey. 8S. Sentman, 
I. P. Smeltzer, John Mar- 
ing, Jacob Maring, Abra- 
ham Waybright, John Ey- 
ler, Samuel David Reck, 
Henry Clutz, Christian 
Shriver, JesseSharretts, 
John Hankey and John N. 
Hoffman. 

A committee consisting 
of Messrs. A. Waybright, 

Mr. Joy LUTHERAN CHURCH Samuel Reek and John N. 
ApAms Go., Pa. Hoffman was appointed to 

canvass the community for 

subscriptions and available members. August the 23rd, 1851, 
this committee reported subscriptions to the amount of 
$780.00 and about forty persons expressing a desire to form 
a congregation. The ‘Taneytown Parish agreed that if a 
congregation was organized, they would receive it as a part of 
their charge. September 7, 1851, the first election of officers was 
held in Greenbush school-house, the following being elected: 
Elders, Samuel David Reck and John N. Hoffman; Deacons, 
Jesse Sharretts and Arthur McGuigan; ‘Trustees, John Eyler and 
Christian Shriver. Preparation and plans for the construction of 
a church building were made, and on April 27, 1852, the corner- 
stone was laid. Rev. S. Sentman, the pastor, was assisted in 
this service by the Rev. S. 8. Schmucker, D. D., who spoke in 
English, and Rev. P. Anstadt, speaking in German. ‘The struct- 
ure was forty by fifty feet in dimension and built of brick. The 
brick were made on Arthur McGuigan’s farm and the lumber was 
hauled from Wrightsville, Pa. October 24, 1852, the church was 
dedicated. The pastor, Rev. 8. Sentman, was assisted in this 





ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 269 


service by the Rev. H. L. Baugher, D. D. November 21, 1852, 
the first communion service was held in the new church, eighty 
persons communing. 

This church continued as a part of the Taneytown charge 
until March 15, 1878, when it became a separate charge. The 
parsonage was built in the year 1882. March 4, 1890, due to a 
defective flue, the church was destroyed by fire. Immediate 
steps were taken to rebuild. The cornerstone was laid June 15, 
1890. The sermon on this occasion was delivered by the Rev. 
K. J. Wolf, D. D. The present structure was dedicated Novem- 
ber 30, 1890, Rev. H. L. Baugher, D. D., preaching the sermon and 
Rev. John Weidley assisting in the services. The congregation 
now has a communicant membership of 235. 

The following are the pastors and their years of service with 
this congregation: S. Sentman, 1851-1858; L. T. Williams, 1858- 
1867; P. Burestresser, 1867-1874; W. H. Luckenbaugh, 1875-1877; 
M. L. Beard, 1877-1881; J. U. Asper, 1881-1887; H. M. Heilman, 
1887-1893; W. G. Minnich, 1893-1908; Emory Stockslager, 1908- 
1920; Leshe K. Young, 1920-. 


270 History or Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, HARNEY, MD. 
(Mr. Joy CHARGE) 


Rev. Lesuizs K. Youne, Pastor 


June 29, 1889, some of the members of the Mt. Joy congrega- 
tion, and others, living at and in the vicinity of Harney, Carroll 
County, Md., took the initiatory steps to organize a congregation 
and erect a house of worship in the town of Harney, Md. A 
meeting was called in Shoe- 
maker’s Hall on the above 
date, and a decision was 
reached to organize a con- 
eregation. This was done 
with the consent and as- 
sistance of the Mt. Joy 
congregation, it being un- 
derstood that it should be- 
come a part of the Mt. 
Joy Charge. January 6, 
1890, under the pastoral 
care of Rev. H. M. Heil- 
man, a congregation num- 
bering forty-eight members 
was organized and the con- 
stitution wasadopted. 
March, 7, 1890), Dreonn 
C. Bush, John Ohler, Ab- 
raham M. Waybright, Mar- 
tin Slagle, D. J. Hesson 
and J. L. Hesson were e- 

St. PAut’s LUTHERAN CHURCH lected as trustees to act in 

Harney, Mbp. the name and behalf of 
the congregation, pursuant 
to the provisions of the act of the General Assembly of 
the State of Maryland. The plans and preparation for the con- 
struction of a church edifice were hastened. March 4, 1890, the 
cornerstone was laid, and October 26 of the same year, the present 
edifice was dedicated, the morning sermon being delivered by the 
Rev. H. H. Weber, D. D., and the evening message by the Rev. 
John U. Aspers. The charge was officially effected in the fall of 
1890, by a joint council meeting and was ratified by the Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran Synod of West Pennsylvania, convening at Hanover, 
Pa. The present confirmed membership of this congregation is 
23or 

The pastors who served this congregation are: H. M. Heilman, 
1890-18938; W. G. Minnich, 1893-1908; Emory Stockslager, 1908- 
1920; Leslie K. Young, 1920-. 





ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE Par ed 


REV. J. HAROLD LITTLE 


(PASTOR OF THE NEW CHESTER CHARGE) 


J. Harold Little was born’ at 
Hanover, Pa., July 8, 1895, the 
son of Mr. and Mrs. John W. 
Little. He united with St. 
Mark’s Lutheran Church at Han- 
over by confirmation on Palm 
Sunday, 1915, Dr. George W. 
Nicely, pastor. 

After two years of preparatory 
work at the Gettysburg Acad- 
emy, he entered Gettysburg Col- 
lege in the fall of 1917 and grad- 
uated with the A. B. degree in 
the spring of 1921. In the fall 
of the same year he began his 
course of theological training at 
the Lutheran Theological Sem- 
inary at Gettysburg, graduating 
in the spring of 1924. 

Licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at York in the fall 
of 1928, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the New Chester 
Charge ‘in January, 1924, which he had supplied during the pre- 
ceding summer, and upon the active duties of which he entered 
June 1, 1924, after the completion of his Seminary course at 
Gettysburg. He was ordained by the West Pennsylvania Synod, 
meeting in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church of Hanover, his home 
town, October 15, 1924. 





Qi2 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST. JOHN’S. LUTHERAN CHURCH, HAMPTON, PA: 
(New CHESTER CHARGE) 


Rev. J. Haroup LitTin, PAsTor 


The Hampton Lutheran 
Church was first a part of 
the Abbottstown Charge, 
and then was annexed to 
the Petersburg Charge. In 
the year 1838 or 1839 it 
became a part of the New 
Chester Charge. The first 
minister to serve St. John’s, 
after it became a part of 
the new charge, was Rev. 
Charles Weyl, 1839 to 1842. 

The men who followed 
upon the field were: Rev. 
John Ulch, 1848 to 1852; 
Rev. Focht, 1852 to 1856; 
Rev. Jacob Martin, 1856 to 
1859; Rev. Peter Raby 
1860 to 1866; Rev. D. M. 
Blackwelder, 1866 to 1867; 
Rev. H. C. Grossman, 1867 
to 1868; Rev. J. E. Hon- 
eycutt, 1869 to 1872; Rev. 

St. JoHn’s LuTHERAN CHURCH J. W.. Lake; I873totlsia 

Hampton, Pa. Rev. Daniel Sell, 1875 to 

1879; Rev. W. F. Reintz, 

1880 to 1882; Rev. H. C. Shindle, 1883 to 1895. It was dur- 

ing the pastorate of the Rev. H. C. Shindle that the Luth- 

eran Church was built at Hampton, and dedicated free of all 

debt. <A great deal of credit is due Rev. Shindle for his splendid 
service on the Charge. 


Later pastors of the New Chester Charge were: Rev. G. J. M. 
Kettner, 1895 to 1898; Rev. Cyrus Held, 1898 to 1901; Rev. 
H. W. Bender, 1901 to 1906; Rev. E. E. Deiterick, 1906 to 1914; 
Rev. W. D. Nicoll, 1914 to 1917; Rev. L. G. Stauffer, 1918 to 
1921. 


During the summer of 1922, Rev. H. M. Sternat, a student 
at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa., supplied 
the New Chester Charge and did splendid work. During the 
summer of 1928, Rev. J. Harold Little, also a student at the 
Seminary, supplied the Charge. The marked enthusiasm which 
he aroused among the people in regard to church work brought 





ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE ay Bs 


about his unanimous election to become the pastor after his school 
work was finished, and on June Ist, 1924, he officially took up the 
work of the Charge. 





ST. MARK’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH 
HEIDLERSBURG,- PA. 


(NEw CHESTER CHARGE) 


REV. CU SilAROLD Ss LirriLE. PASTOR 





ST. Marxk’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, HEIDLERSBURG, PA. 


The history of St. Mark’s dates from the winter of 1860 
when a few members, then belonging to various Lutheran churches 
including Benders, Upper Bermudian, St. Paul’s or Pines, etc., 
decided that a new church could be more centrally located at 
Heidlersburg. After much debating pro and con, Mr. P. Yeattes 
circulated a paper for membership and contributions. The result 
was very encouraging and it was deemed wise to press the enter- 
prise. 

The ground for the present structure was broken early in 
the spring of 1861. On May 4th, 1861, the cornerstone of the 
present structure was laid. The exercise was elaborate and 1m- 
pressive. 

Much of the work of construction was done free of charge 
by the members, and the people of the entire community contrib- 
uted money and labor. Rev. Peter Raby was chosen pastor 
and his sincere efforts brought a marked degree of success. 

On November 26, 1861, the new church was dedicated with 
a small debt unpaid. Rev. Raby conducted protracted revival 


2 (A History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


services and many were won into the Kingdom and into church 
fellowship. 

At this time the Pines Lutheran Church was in an exceedingly 
flourishing condition and St. Mark’s of Heidlersburg was taken on 
this Charge which at present is known as the New Chester Charge. 

The first Sunday School was organized in the spring of 1862 
with P. Yeattes as superintendent. During the pastorate of Rev. 
H. C. Shindle, John Spangler joined the church and purchased 
an organ. A choir was now organized under the leadership of 
Mille Hoffman. 

The following Pastors served in order mentioned: 

Rev. Peter Raby—1860-1866 

Rev. D. M. Blackwelder—1866-1867 

3. Rev. H. C. Grossman—1867-1868 

4. Rev. J. E. Honeyeutt—1869-1872 

5. Rev. J. W. Lake—1873-1875 

6. Rev. Daniel Sell—1875-1879 
fhe 
8 


NO 


Rev. W. F. Reintz—1880-1883 
. Rev. H. C. Shindle—1883-1895 
9. Rev. G. J. M. Kettner—1895-1898 

10. Rev. Cyrus E. Held—1898-1901 
11. Rev. H. W. Bender—1901-1906 
12. Rev. E. E. Deiterick—1906-1914 
13. Rev. W. D. Nicoll—1914-1917 
14. Rev. L. G. Stauffer—1918-1921 
15. Rev. H. M. Sternat (Supply) —1922 
16. Rev. J. Harold Little—1923—. 





Sl. PAUL'S LUTHERAN, ~ PINES CHURCH” 
(New CHESTER CHARGE) 


Rev. J. Haroup Litre, Pastor 


The first church was a log church. This church was owned 
by the Presbyterians. 

The second church was built in 1803, jointly by Lutherans 
and Reformed. 

In 1861 the Lutherans withdrew and built the present church. 

The first minister on record was Daniel Raymond, 1807— 
1819; served from Abbottstown. 

The second minister was Melsheimer, 1820-1824. 

Third—John Herbst, 1824-1829. 

Fourth—Daniel Gotwald, 1831-1838. 

Fifth—Charles Weyl, 1839-1842. 

Sixth—John Uleh, 1848-1852. 


ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 2th 


Seventh—Focht, 1852-1856. 


Kighth—Jacob Martin, 1856-1859. 

From this date the pastors were the same as those of St. 
John’s and St. Mark’s Lutheran Churches, which together with St. 
Paul’s Church constituted the New Chester Charge. 





St. PAuL’s LUTHERAN CHuRCcH, ADAMS Co., PA. 


REV. GEORGE ELMER SHEFFER 


PASTOR OF THE NEw OxFoRD CHARGE 


Rev. George Elmer Sheffer, 
son of John A. Sheffer and Eliza- 
beth Gladfelter Sheffer, was born 
in York County, Pa., on August 
9th, 1888. He comes from a 
family of seven sons and two 
daughters. His parents and all 
his sisters and brothers are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church. He 


was confirmed at St. Paul’s Luth- 


eran church of the Muhlenburg 
charge, York County, in Sept- 
ember, 1904, by Rev. Fred. S. 
Geesey. He was educated in the 
public schools of his home com- 
munity, the York County Nor- 
mal School, the York School of 
Business, and the York County 





Academy. He taught school for two years in the vicinity of 


276 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


York. He entered Gettysburg College, September, 1908, and 
oraduated June, 1912, asasecond honorman. He entered Gettys- 
burg Seminary September, 1912, and graduated May, 1915. He 
continued his studies at the University of Chicago. He was 
continuously enrolled from January, 1918, to December, 1922, 
and completed three and a half years of residence work, and 
wrote two theses, for which he was given the degrees of M. A. 
andra)? 


He was licensed in October, 1914, at St. Mark’s Lutheran 
Church, Hanover, and ordained in October, 1915, at Christ Church, 
Gettysburg. He became pastor of the West Manheim Lutheran 
pastorate in York County June first, 1915. He served until 
September 30th, 1917. During his pastorate a new parsonage 
was built on Pleasant St., Hanover, Pa. ‘The final payment of 
$3300.00 was made on the new St. David’s Church of the same 
charge. The bi-pocket envelopes were installed at all three 
churches of that charge and the first successful every-member- 
canvass Was made. Over one hundred adults were added to the 
membership. 


He became pastor of Augsburg, Chicago, Ill., October first, 
1917, and served that congregation until April seventh, 1925. 
The congregation was a mission when Rev. Sheffer became pastor. 
It was brought to self support in June, 1921. The Sunday School 
was completely reorganized into departments. It was carefully 
eraded and graded material used. The membership of the con- 
eregation and the Sunday School was about three times as large 
When he left as it was when he became the pastor. Extensive 
improvements were made on the church building. As much 
money was spent on repairs and improvements as the church 
originally cost. He became pastor of the First Lutheran church 
New Oxford, Pa., April eighth, 1925. 

He was married to Miss Ruth Crumrine, September fifth, 
1917. Two children were born to this union, Elizabeth Ann and 
George Elmer, Jr. 


FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, NEW OXFORD, PA. 


Rev. GrorGrE E. SHEFFER, PASTOR 


For many years this Church was known as St. Paul’s Luth- 
eran Church, but in January, 1860, it was chartered as the First 
Lutheran Church of New Oxford, Pa., and the following are the 
names of those who signed the charter, viz: Rev. L. Gerhart, 
William Stock, Elias Slagle, Michael Livingston, Daniel Ehrhart, 
John Moy, William Diehl and J. Basters. 


ADAMS COUNTY CONFERENCE nee 


The Union Church of New Oxford (Lutheran, Reformed and 
Presbyterian) was consecrated on Sunday, June 13th, 1822, on 
which occasion services were conducted in both the German and 
English languages, Rev. J. Melsheimer being pastor. In May, 
1860, the Lutheran and Reformed congregations met and resolved 
to build each a church for themselves. On Sunday, July 12th, 
1860, the cornerstone of the First Lutheran Church in New Ox- 





First LUTHERAN CHuRCH, NEw OxXForp, PA. 


ford was laid, on which occasion the Rev. J. Menges of York, Pa., 
preached German and the Rev. M. J. Alleman of Hanover preached 
English. The Pastor, Rev. L. Gerhart, laid the cornerstone. 
The Building Committee consisted of Jacob Stock, Michael 
Livingston and Jeremiah Diehl. 

The Fourth of January, 1861, being a national fast day, the 
pastor, Rev. L. Gerhart, began to preach in the lecture room of 
the new church. 


278 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


On the 9th of May, 1861, Ascension Day, the new Lutheran 
church of New Oxford was dedicated to the service of the Triune 
God. The following ministers were present, viz: Revs. P. Raby, 
J. K. Keiser, J. R. Miller, M. J. Alleman, Rev. L. Gerhart, Pastor, 
and the Rev. E. Hoffeins of the German Reformed Church. The 
cost of the church was about $5000. Since the erection of this 
building about $3000 have been expended on repairs; and re- 
modeling the church again in the summer of 1895 caused an 
expenditure of about $600. This is a two story brick structure 
with a seating capacity of five hundred, and is beautiful for 
situation on North Peters Street. 

The First Lutheran Church was connected some years with 
Hanover, Littlestown, Abbottstown and St. Jacob’s Churches, 
and from what can be gathered from the records, which are meager 
indeed, it seems that in the year 1849 this charge was divided, 
and for a number of years the Abbottstown, East Berlin and New 
Oxford churches formed one charge, and was known as the Ab- 
bottstown Charge. 

At a meeting of the respective Councils on September 19th, 
1893, in the Abbottstown Church, the following action was taken: 
That Abbottstown and East Berlin constitute one charge, and 
that the First Lutheran Church of New Oxford withdraw from 
the Abbottstown Charge and unite with the St. Paul’s Lutheran 
Church of McSherrystown and form a new charge. ‘This action 
was approved by the West Pennsylvania Synod. The Rev. R. 
H. Clare, D. D., remained as pastor of the Abbottstown Charge, 
and the new Charge known as the New Oxford Charge extended 
a call to the Rev. Ferdinand Hesse, who entered upon his work 
in this field June Ist, 1894. 


List oF Pastors OF THE First LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1822-1925 


Rev. John Melshen eta aes one sien aerkene reeene 1822 to 1828 
Rev. ONath ane Ubi ra Ut ae) at) era 1829 to 1836 
RevieJacoowA bert D7) aye eet eee heer nen 1837 to 1848 
Rey.) Gharlest acy 1) 521) ages ee ee eee 1848 to 1849 
Rev.-P.\Scheureritteie ee ree eens 1849 to 1850 
Rev;.Caw iter ee 24.06 Gaeta ee ee ee 1850 to 1852 
Reyi-Lie Gerhart ony oe a Oe et eRe eee 1852 to 1862 
Revi Di Je Hauert DAL) axe ee cn tee oe eee ee SO Et Om tae: 
Reva é Snyder eta ee oe ie re ee 1873 to 137% 
RevoMeJeAlléman® DMD See a ee 1877 to 1878 
Reyes Re Orwit pee eee oo ak ane eee ee 1878 to 1884 
Rey. J Vomlinson 1) el) eee en oe 1884 to 1892 
Reve Rao Glare ei) ieee 22 Sei eee 1892 to 1893 
Rev.eFerdinand thessoemmee esc tena eee 1894 to 1903 
Reyes GeorzesN alicuitcie) = Dee ete 1903 to 1910 


Reve Gharlecs WreBakeieen 4.) cs ke reer ee 1911 to 1917 


ADAMS CouUNTY CONFERENCE 279 


Peeveny tl bur VincA iscn sane ae eee tet to), 1918 to 1924 
Reve Gcorve Fc ohelleret ) germ ey betas aise 1925 (——) 


During the pastorate of Dr. G. N. Lauffer a $1500 pipe organ 
built by M. P. Moller was installed and extensive improvements 
made. On November 24th, 1909, the dwelling house located on 
Lincoln Way East was purchased for a parsonage at a cost of 
$3050, and the deed delivered December 31st, 1909. 

From the congregation have come the following sons for the 
ministry: Revs. Samuel A. Diehl, Peter Livingston, Israel Diehl, 
Charles Hersh, Daniel Stock, Charles M. Stock, D. D., Harvey 
D. Hoover, D. D., Ph. D., George Livingston, Charles W. Baker, 
Jr., and Ralph W. Baker. 

Until January, 1925, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Mce- 
Sherrystown was joined with this to form the New Oxford Charge. 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, McSHERRYSTOWN, PA. 
(UNTIL JANUARY, 1925, or THE New Oxrorp CHARGE) 


St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of McSherrystown, 
Pa., was organized October 8, 1891. The cornerstone was laid 
on August 14th, 1892, with Rev. C. M. Stock, D. D., of Hanover 
in charge of the services. Rev. M. Valentine, D. D., delivered 
an address in English and Rev. D. J. Hauer, D. D., preached in 
the German language. On Sunday, September 24th, 1893, the 
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of McSherrystown was dedicated by 
the Rev. Charles M. Stock, D. D., of Hanover, who was assisted 
in the services by the Revs. M. Valentine, D. D., H. W. McKnight, 
D. D., J. C. Koller, D. D., Daniel Stock, A. J. Metzger and R. H. 
Clare, D. D. 

This Church was united with the First Lutheran Church, 
New Oxford, and together they form the New Oxford Charge. 

On January 28th, 1894, at a congregational meeting, the Rev. 
Ferdinand Hesse was unanimously elected to become pastor of 
the New Oxford Charge and began his labors in this field on June 
Ist, 1894. He resigned his pastorate on September Ist, 1903, to 
accept a call to the Grace Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Rev. Hesse was succeded by the Rev. George N. Lauffer, D. D., 
who served the Charge, from November 15th, 1903, to December 
ist, 1910, when he resigned to accept a call to Zion Lutheran 
Church, Newville, Pa. He is now pastor of the Second Lutheran 
Church, Altoona, Pa. The Rev. Charles W. Baker was elected 
pastor on December 11th, 1910, and took charge of the work 
March Ist, 1911. He resigned as pastor on February Ist, 1918, 
to accept a call to the Lutheran Church at Clearfield, Pennsyl- 
vania. The Rev. Wilbur M. Allison was called to this field on 
April Ist, 1918. He resigned November 23rd, 1924, in order to 


280 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


accept a call to Grace Lutheran Church, Mt. Carmel, Pa., where 
he assumed charge January Ist, 1925. 

The Church is free from debt and has a present membership 
of 170. The first officers were: Elders, .William Menges, and S. 
L. Johns; Deacons, John J. Greenholt, David Little, Nathaniel 





St. PAUL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, MCSHERRYSTOWN, Pa. 


Noel and Jeremiah Johns. The Building Committee consisted of 
George A. Sheely, Jeremiah Johns and William Menges. The 
present Church Council consists of the following officers: Elders, 
William Menges, Henry Menges, John J. Greenholt and Harry J. 
Collins; Deacons, John H. Menges, Charles Arentz, William 
Legore and Howard 8. Reigle; Trustees, Clayton Cromer and 
Calvin Swisher. 


ADAMS CoUNTY CONFERENCE 2s) 


UPPER BERMUDIAN CHARGE 


Rev. [ra W. TROSTLE, PASTOR 


Two churches compose this charge, one of which, ‘‘The Upper 
Bermudian” Lutheran Church, was organized in 1782; and the 
other, “Mt. Zion Lutheran Church,’’ was established in the year 
1869. 


In the absence of any data from the charge itself, as con- 
tained in the church records of these congregations, we are able 
to record only a few brief references that are found in the ‘‘Doc- 
umentary History” of the Ministertum of Pennsylvania and in the 
published Minutes of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 


The first reference is found on page 188 of Doc. H7s., record- 
ing the acts of the thirty-sixth convention of the Ministerium, 
1783. Apparently the charge of which the Upper Bermudian 
Church was originally a part covered a large territory and as 
many as six congregations; for it is mentioned in the following 
association: “The congregations in Ober Permudian, Unter Per- 
mudian, Dover, Paradise, Carlisle and Lower Settlement * * * * 
are at present vacant, since their former pastor, Rev. Mr. Gering, 
has moved to Yorktown, to become the assistant of his father- 
in-law, Pastor Kurz. They evidence a desire for Rev. Mr. Ernst. 
They were referred to him, with the assurance that the Minister- 
ium wished them great blessing, if it could be so arranged to the 
satisfaction of both parties. Rev. Mr. Ernst undertook to visit 
these congregations on his way home.” 

In the record of the Ministerlum meeting in 1793, Mr. Gun- 
ther Wiegand is listed in the parochial report that includes the 
congregation of ‘Ober Bermudian,’ who was a Licensed Can- 
didate for ordination at this convention. (Doc. His., pp. 261, 
264.) 

In 1797, “A congregation in Upper Bermudian, in York 
County, petitioned in writing and also orally through a delegate, 
that it might be served by Mr. Grob. The petition was granted.” 

In 1794 there was read “‘a call from Bermudian, Kessler’s and 
Langsdorf’s churches for Mr. Rothraff;’’ and later in the day’s 
sessions of the Ministerium it is stated “That Johannes Rothraff 
receive a license as catechist for the congregations in Bermudian, 
Kessler’s and Langsdorf’s congregations, and that he be under the 
supervision of the pastor at Yorktown.” 

The Minutes of the West Pennsylvania Synod of 1869 record 
the following: ‘‘Resolved, That the Mt. Zion congregation, in the 
bounds of the York Springs District, be received into connection 
with this body.” As the Rev. D. M. Blackwelder was at this 
time pastor of the York Springs Charge, it was no doubt under 
his direction that the Mt. Zion congregation was organized. 

Rey. Mr. Blackwelder resigned April 12, 1870; following him 


282 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


were these pastors: Rev. J. B. Anthony, 1870-1872; Rev. 8S. A. 
Hedges, 1872-1877; Rev. A. Z. Thomas, 1877-1881. It was with 
the beginning of his pastorate that the Upper Bermudian Charge 
was formed. The two congregations forming this charge were 
formerly a part of the York Springs Charge, and by mutual con- 
sent of the two charges the division was made, Petersburg and 
Chestnut Grove congregations forming the latter. 

Rev. Mr. Thomas was succeeded in 1881 by Rev. P. Sheeder, 
1881-1884; Rev. U. A. Hankey, 1884-1890; Rev. C. F. Gephart, 
1890-1893; Rev. W. G. Slifer, 1894-1896; Rev. W. H. Settlemeyer, 
1896-1899; Rev. O. H. Gruver, 1900-1904; Rev. Wm. L. Lesher, 
1904-1907; Rev. Harvey Bickel, 1908-1911; Rev. 8. E. Smith, 
1911-1914; Rev. D. R. Becker, 1915 until the time of his death, 
December 23, 1919; Rev. H. H. Flick, 1920-1924; Rev. Ira W. 
Trostle, 1925-. 


REV. A. M. HOLLINGER 
PASTOR OF THE WeEST MANHEIM CHARGE 


The subject of this sketch was 
born in Cumberland County, 
Pa., near Carlisle, July 7, 1875, 
the son of J. Edward and Mary 
Hollinger. At the age of 21, he 
united with the Church of the 
Brethren, being the parents’ 
church. He graduated from the 
Cumberland Valley State Nor- 
mal School, Shippensburg, Pa.., 
in the year 1896, and in the fol- 
lowing year was ordained to the 
gospel ministry according to the 
custom of the Brethren Church. 
He taught in the public schools 
of Cumberland County for 17 
years, the last six being in Car- 
lisle. While there he began to 
worship with the good people 
of the First Daten Church in that place, and, at the suggestion 
and inspiration of the pastor, Dr. G. M. Diffenderfer, entered the 
Seminary at Gettysburg, graduating in the year, 1917. He had 
previously completed a year and a half of theological study with 
the Temple University. 

Immediately after graduation from the Seminary, he accepted 
a call to the Seven Valley Charge, but was never installed and 
remained there only five months. He accepted the unanimous 





ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 283 


eall to the West Manheim Charge, November 138, 1917, and has 
been serving on this field since that time. 

He was licensed as a Lutheran minister in St. Matthew’s 
Lutheran Church, York, in 1917. 

He was married, 1898, to Anna J. Stouffer of Newville, Pa. 
Three children were born to bless the home, but one, at the age 
of two, was called to adorn the heavenly home. The oldest of 
the children has become the wife of the Rev. H. W. Sternat, 
pastor of the Lutheran Church of Lansdowne, Md. 


ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK 
COUNTY PAY 


(West MANHEIM CHARGE) 


Rev. A. M. HoLuincsr, PAstor 





ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


This church is located in the Southwestern part of West 
Manheim township, York County, about six miles from Hanover. 
The first building was erected more than a half century ago of 
logs, and weather-boarded. In 1879, it was burned and the 
church records destroyed. The sources of history are meager. 
It is a union congregation; the Lutheran services being held alter- 
nately with those of the Reformed church. The congregation 
maintains a prosperous Sunday School and Christian Endeavor 
Society. The present building is modeled after the old style, 
having the main auditorium above the Sunday Schoolroom. 


284 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


This congregation has given one of its sons, the Rev. Noah Yeiser, 
to the mission field. 


Some of the pastors who have served this congregation are as 
follows: 


Rev. Peter Scheurer Rev. D. B. Lau 

Rev. J. Lane Rev. 8S. L. Hench 

Rev. D. J. Hauer Rev. George E. Sheffer 
Rev. J. A. Metzger Rev. A. M. Hollinger 


The Rev. F. H. Berwager of Bayonne, N. J., is a son of this 
congregation. 


ST. DAVID’S (SHERMAN’S) LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK 
COUNTY, PA. 


(West MANHEIM CHARGE) 


Rev. A. M. Houuincer, Pastor 





ST. Davip’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


This church is situated in West Manheim township; York 
County, about seven miles south of Hanover, close to the Mason 
and Dixon Line, and, therefore, draws many of its members from 
the State of Maryland. The ground on which it stands was 
donated for a union church, and so it has remained to the present 
time, the Lutheran and Reformed services being held on alternate 
Sundays. 

The first church was organized in the year 1750, when the 
Rev. John George Bager (Baugher), a pioneer of Lutheranism 
in this part of the country, and a pastor of the Lutheran congre- 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 285 


gation in Hanover gave some attention to this field and assisted 
in the work. The first church harmonized in construction and 
appearance with the primitive surroundings. In this rude build. 
ing, services were held regularly until the year 1781, when a larger 
building was erected. In this new building, the congregation 
worshipped for a number of years without any stoves or fire and 
without plaster on the walls, until the year 1832. 


Previous to the year 1783 no records were kept and the num- 
ber of communicants cannot be ascertained. In this first year of 
record-keeping there were 149 communicants. Opposition to 
night services prevailed until 1848, when candle light was first 
used in the church and an evening service introduced by the Rev. 
Frederick Ruthrauff. 


The third church was erected on the original site in the year 
1868, during the pastorate of the Rev. Samuel Yingling. 


The fourth and present house was erected in 1914 during the 
pastorate of the Rev. S. L. Hench. This union congregation was 
one of the first to organize and conduct a Sunday School in this 
community. The union Christian Endeavor Society meets reg- 
ularly every Sunday evening. The Woman’s Missionary Society 
is active and instrumental in fostering a healthy missionary sen- 
timent. The present total membership is 544. 


The names of the pastors who served this congregation are 
as follows: 


Rev. Carl Frederick Wildbahn, 1751; 
Rev. John George Bager (Baugher), 1752; 
Rev. John Daniel Shroeder, 1753; 
Rev. John Frederick Melsheimer, 1790; 
Rev. John Melsheimer, 1814; 

Rev. Jacob Albert, 1829; 

Rev. Jeremiah Harpel, 1839; 

Rev. P. Willard, 1842; 

Rev. Frederick Ruthrauff, 1848; 
Rev. Eli Schwartz, 1845; 

Rev. Jacob Kempfer, 1848; 

Rev. D. P. Rosenmiller, 1853; 

Rev. M. J. Alleman, 1857; 

Rev. P. Warner, 1863; 

Rev. M. J. Alleman, 1865; 

Rev. 8. Yingling, 1868; 

Rev. D. J. Hauer, 1873; 

Rev. J. A. Metzger, 1882; 

Rev. D. B. Lau, 1909; 

Rev. S. L. Hench, 1913; 

Rev. Geo. E. Sheffer, 1915; 

Rev. A. M. Hollinger, 1917. 


286 HistoRy OF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The Rev. Wouter V. Garrett, pastor of the Lutheran Church, 
Middleburg, Pa., and the Rev. Paul Horick, pastor of the Leh- 
master Charge, Franklin County, Pa., are sons of this congregation. 


ST. PAUL’S (DUBS) LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK 
COUNTY PAs 


(West ManHemm CHARGE) 


Rev. A. M. HoLuinamr, Pastor 





> 


ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN GHURCH, YORK Co., PA: 


This church is located about five miles Southeast of Hanover, 
in Manheim township, York County. It is a union of the Luth- 
eran and Reformed congregations. Before the erection of a church 
house, the pastors held services for several years in what is known 
as Wildasin’s School House. In 1858 a brick building was erected 
on the church property, which stood until 1901, when the present 
building was erected. This building is a commodious brick 
structure, equipped with electric lights and has a beautiful cem- 
etery adjoining. | 

The present total membership is 547. A prosperous Sunday 
School is conducted by the joint congregation. 


Some of the pastors serving this congregations were: 


Rey. D. P. Rosenmiller Rev. J. A. Metzger 
Rev. M. J. Alleman Rev. D. B. Lau 

Rev. P. Warner Rev. 8. L. Hench 

Rev. 8S. Yingling Rev. George E. Sheffer 


Rev. D. J. Hauer Rev. A. M. Hollinger 


ADAMS CouNTY CONFERENCE 287 


REV. 8S. M. MOUNTZ 


PASTOR OF THE YORK SPRINGS CHARGE 


Rev. Mountz was educated at 
the Cumberland Valley Institute, 
Central Penna. College, and took 
a special course in Missionary 
Institute, now Susquehanna Uni- 
versity. In 1889 he was received 
into the Susquehanna Synod and 
served the Lairdsville and Mont- 
gomery charges in the Susque- 
hanna Synod. He also served a 
congregation in McKeesport and 
the First Lutheran church, But- 
ler, Pa. He was then called to 
the old and historic Trinity Luth- 
eran Church, New Holland, Pa., 
where he served for 19 years 
during which time the church 
was twice repaired and he was 
instrumental in collecting $13,- 
000.00 as endowment. Since coming to York Springs the congre- 
gation under his leadership has greatly improved their church, 
frescoing, painting and other material improvements. The church 
at Chestnut Grove was also improved and all improvements paid 
for as they came due. A churchly spirit is being cultivated in 
the people. 





WORKS SPRING ss PARTS i 


Rev. 8. M. Mountz, Pastor 


The York Springs parish is composed of three congregations— 
York Springs, Chestnut Grove and Lower Bermudian. Owing 
to the very incomplete record—and in some instances none at 
all—it is impossible to give a correct and detailed account of the 
formation of this charge. No record has been found of the or- 
ganization of any of the churches. ‘The first account of any pas- 
toral services being held was that conducted by the Rev. John 
Ulrich, who served these people from 1842 to 1855, after which 
it seems there was a vacancy for about five years. In 1860 the 
Rev. John Raby received a call and served the charge till 1864. 
He was followed by the Rev. 8. A. K. Francis, D. D., in 1865, 
who was their pastor till 1867. The Rev. Dr. Francis died a 
short time ago in the city of Philadelphia where he had been 
pastor of a Lutheran congregation for many years. Rev. D. M. 
Blackwelder succeeded Dr. Francis and served the congregations 


288 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


from ’67 to ’70; and he in turn was followed by Rev. J. B. Anthony 
who was pastor here for but one year. Rev. 8. A. Hedges was 
the next pastor and served from ’71 to 775. Rev. John W. Breid- 
enbach served as pastor from ’78 to ’82, and in ’83 was followed 
by the Rev. Adam Stump from ’83 to ’85. For some reason no 
regular pastor was called till 1889, as during the time from ’86 
to ’89 the Rev. David Z. Foulk served only as a supply pastor. 
In 1889 the Rev. John W. Reese received and accepted a call to 
the pastorate and served them for ten years, resigning in 1899, 
when the Rev. John Brubaker was called and served for only one 
year. In 1901 the Rev. J. Frank Heilman was called and became 
the pastor and served the charge till 1904. His successor 
was the Rev. Stanley Billheimer, in 1904, and he remained as 
such till 1910. Rev. Dr. Billheimer is now pastor of the Palmyra 
Lutheran church in the East Penna. Synod, of which Synod he 
is now President. In 1911 Rev. Paul Gladfelter became pastor 
and served faithfully and well till 1920, when he resigned in order 
to accept a call to the Lutheran parish at Abbottstown, where he 
is still serving. On the first of October, 1922, Rev. 5. M. Mountz 
accepted a call to the pastorate of this charge and is now serving 
them. 


CHAPTER XVIT 
CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 


REV BAHN THOMAS 
PASTOR OF ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH 


The subject of this sketch was 
born at York, Pa., September 
2nd, 1864. He attended public 
schools at York up to the “A 
Grammar” grade, then entered 
the York County Academy. Was 
a student there for two years. 
After a short period of service in 
the drug business in the city of 
Baltimore, he was taken sick and 
returned home to York, Pa., 
during which time determination 
was made to take up studies 
preparatory to entering college 
as a student for the ministry in 
the Lutheran Church. 

He united with Christ Luth- 
erate ONUrGh ee Ole. sy Oran La, 
during the first vear of the Rev. 
George W. Enders’ pastorate, in 1882, by the rite of confirmation. 

He entered Gettysburg College in 1885, graduated with the 
class of 1889, and entered the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, 
Pa., in the fall of the same year and graduated in 1892. Ordained 
by the West Pennsylvania Synod, October 16, 1892. 

He took charge of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church (Mission) 
North York, Pa., August 7th, 1892. After a service as pastor 
there of over eleven years he resigned to take charge of Bethany 
Lutheran Church, Altoona, Pa., October Ist, 1903, continuing as 
pastor until May 30th, 1905. Served as pastor of the following 
Churches thereafter :— 

Redeemer Lutheran Church of Harrisburg, Pa.—June 1, 
1905, to February 28, 1910; St. John’s Lutheran Church, Boiling 
Springs, Pa.—March 1, 1910, to August 31, 1914; Second Lutheran 
Church of Chambersburg, Pa.—September 1, 1914, to November 
30, 1918. 

He took up work as Camp-pastor (Asst. Chaplaincy) in New- 
port News, Va., under the direction of the National Lutheran 
Council, December 1, 1918, resigning February 14, 1920. Acted 
as Secretary of Brotherhood work in the same place from Sep- 
tember 15, 1919, until the resignation of Camp-pastor work. 


289 





290 History oF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


During this period of activity he had charge of religious and 
Brotherhood work in Camps Stuart, Hill, Morrison, Alexander, 
Langley Field, Norfolk Navy Base, and the Hospitals HEmbar- 
kation and Hampton Roads. Upon relinquishing this work, he 
took charge of the mission at Bristol, Pa.,—Zion Lutheran Church 
—continuing as pastor until December 31, 1922. 

He became pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Boiling 
Springs for the second time, January 1, 1923. 

Married to Miss Fannie Kettler of York, Pa., on September 
Ist, 1892. They have one daughter, Mrs. William M. Bucher of 
Boiling Springs, Pa.. and four grandchildren -by her: William 
Thomas, Theodore Gail, Jared Bahn and Paul Gilbert Bucher. 


ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, BOILING SPRINGS, PA. 


Rev. T. Bann Tuomas, Pastor 





St. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, BOILING SPRINGS, Pa. 


We cull the following paragraphs from the first record made 
by pastor, the Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, October 1, 1875. 

“The Lutheran brethren of Boiling Springs and Mount Holly 
Springs, Pa., feeling the need of Lutheran congregations and 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 291 


churches in their midst, reported their desire to the Synod of West 
Pennsylvania, meeting at Carlisle, Pa., in September, 1872. 
After due deliberation as to the practicability and need of organi- 
zations at the above places: the Synod agreed that they were both 
practicable and necessary. A committee was subsequently ap- 
pointed to effect the organization of congregations at both the 
above named places. The committee consisted of the Revs. L. 
A. Gotwald, C. 8. Albert and R. H. Fleck; and the organization 
was effected on the 13th day of October, 1872, with 21 members 
at Mt. Holly Springs and 12 members at Boiling Springs. 

“For a short time the congregations were supplied with 
preaching by the Cumberland Valley Conference. Early in 1873 
the Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, then a licentiate in the Theological 
Seminary of Gettysburg, was elected as the first pastor of the 
charge and began his work on the 4th of April, 1873. 

“Tt was about this time that the congregation bought its 
present church property from the German Reformed Congrega- 
tion for $2500.00. Pastor Fastnacht resigned the 22nd of August, 
1875, said resignation taking effect the following October Ist. 
During the few years of Rev. Fastnacht’s pastorate the member- 
ship increased from 12 to 40.” 

From March Ist, 1876, to March Ist, 1878, the Rev. A. H. 
Aughe was pastor. Rev. M.S. Cressman served as pastor from 
July Ist, 1878, until May Ist, 1882. During his pastorate much- 
needed repairs were made to the church building. The record 
of membership shows that during the service of Revs. Aughe an 
Cressman the numerical strength of the congregation increased 
over 100 per cent. 

July Ist, 1882, the Rev. M. D. Gaver took charge as pastor 
and continued as such until May 25th, 1890. A paragraph from 
his record tells that when he entered upon his work a burdensome 
and worrying debt of over $1600.00 and accrued interest rested 
upon the congregation. A concerted effort to raise this indebted- 
ness proved successful and the whole was paid in April, 1889. 
Thirty-nine members were added to the enrollment. Rev. Gaver 
resigned May 25th, 1890. 

It was during the year 1890 that the charge was divided. 
October 15th of this year, the Rev. Albert Bell assumed charge 
as pastor and continued as such until December 31st, 1893, when 
he became and is still the pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church 
of York, Pa. During pastor Bell’s term of service fifty names 
were added to the church roll. 

June 10th, 1894, the Rev. T. B. Birch was elected pastor, 
and accepted the call extended to him, becoming pastor September 
ist, 1894. He remained with the congregation until July 20th, 
1896, when he resigned to become teacher of Latin in Irving 
College. He was followed by Rev. G. W. McSherry, who entered 
upon his work March Ist, 1898. It was during the pastorate of 


292 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rev. McSherry that a number of legacies were left to the Church, 
the interest of which was and is to be devoted towards pastor’s 
salary. The pastorate of Rev. McSherry, which ended in 1903, 
saw the communicant membership increase to about 100. 

The Rev. Harry B. Ernest assumed the pastorate October 1, 
1903, and continued until July 31, 1907. Individual Communion 
Cups were introduced, a new large Moller Reed Organ placed in 
the auditorium, and the parsonage repaired. 

Rev. W. 8. Bonnell entered upon the field May 1, 1908, and 
served as pastor until the Fall of 1909. 

March 1, 1910, Rev. T. Bahn Thomas began work as pastor 
and continued until August 31, 1914, when he relinquished the 
work to become pastor of the Second Lutheran Church of Cham- 
bersburg, Pa. During his term of office, extensive repairs were 
made to both the parsonage and the church; the latter becoming 
necessary as the result of a disastrous fire which damaged the 
whole interior of the church, necessitating the expenditure of over 
$500.00. Mr. M. B. Embeck presented a magnificent bronze 
cross to the congregation, for the use of the altar which he pre- 
sented later to the congregation during the time of the pastorate 
of the Rev. U. A. Guss, who assumed charge of the Church as 
pastor November Ist, 1914. Rev. Guss served as pastor until 
December 7, 1917. 

The congregation was served by student Wiliam J. Sunday 
as supply pastor during July, August and September, 1918. 
The Rev. D. S. Weimer was pastor from April 1, 1919, to June 15, 
1920. Rev. Dr. Luther Kuhlman was pastor from September 1, 
1920, until September 1, 1922. 

January 1, 1923, the Rev. T. Bahn Thomas became pastor 
of the congregation for the second time. A new heating plant was 
installed in the fall of 1923; and the auditorium recarpeted, and 
the Sunday School room repainted and also recarpeted at a total 
cost of over $1200.00, all of which has been paid at this writing. 

The congregation is actively engaged in the work of spreading 
the Master’s Kingdom. It has a flourishing Sunday School, and 
active Ladies’ Aid Society, a Woman’s Missionary Society, and a 
C. E. Society. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 293 


TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, CAMP HILL, PA. 


Rev. Wituiam E. Swoorr, Pastor 


Rev. William Elwood Swoope, 
Pastor of Trinity Lutheran 
Church, was born April 18th, 
1893, in the city of Altoona. 
Baptised and confirmed in Grace 
Lutheran Church, Altoona. At- 
tended public and High schools of 
Altoona. Left Altoona High for 
Preparatory school at Susque- 
hanna University in the year 
1911. Entered the University in 
1912. Graduated from Univer- 
sity in 1916. Entered Dickinson 
School of Law fall of 1916. Left 
Law School for war work in the 
Y. M. C. A. at Houston; Texas, 
Camp Logan. Served in this 
organization from December 2, 
1917 to March 1, 1918. 


Enlisted in United States Navy March 8th, 1918. Discharged 
February 18, 1919. Entered Seminary at Susquehanna March, 
1919. Licensed by Central Pennsylvania Synod October 7th, 
1920. Graduated from Seminary June 16th, 1921. Ordained 
May 12th, 1921. Married June 22nd, 1921. 

Served his first charge, Watsontown Pastorate of the Susque- 
hanna Synod, from January Ist, 1921, until February 29th, 1924. 
Started work in his present charge, Trinity Lutheran Church, 
Camp Hill, Pa., March 9th, 1924. 





294 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH 
CAMP HILL, PA. 


Rev. WILLIAM E. Swoorpet, PASTOR 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, CAMP Hitt, Pa. 


The Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Camp Hill dates 
from September 13, 1897, when, in pursuance of a resolution 
passed by the Cumberland Valley Conference of the West Penn- 
sylvania Synod, a meeting was held and a temporary organization 
formed. At this meeting Revs. Dr. E. D. Weigle, Dr. H. B. Wile, 
Mr. J. Kistler, Mr. H. R. Fleck and Mr. Harry Heyd were ap- 
pointed a committee to take charge of the work. Subsequently 
the names of Rev. T. B. Birch and Mr. Jacob Hurst were added, 
and the committee thus enlarged effected a formal organization 
on April 24, 1898. From the time of the temporary organization 
services were held once a week in the White Hall Soldiers’ Orphan 
School building, Rev. Dr. Weigle serving as pastor in charge. He 
was assisted at various times by members of the conference com- 
mittee and by Revs. D. M. Gilbert, M. H. Stine, M. P. Hocker, 
Luther DeYoe, C. Rollin Sherck and Fred J. Baum. There were 
thirty-six charter members. The Sunday School connected with 
the church was formed soon after the temporary organization of 
the church and has grown with the growth of the church. 

By the direction of a congregational meeting held on Apri[ 
30, 1898, a plot of ground was bought preparatory to building a 
church edifice; and at a meeting held July 24, 1898, the first steps 
were taken for its erection. Plans and specifications were pre- 
pared and adopted and ground broken for the new building on 
March 6, 1899. The money for the erection of the church was 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 295 


contributed by the communicant membership and friends of the 
congregation in various places and by the Board of Church Ex- 


tension of the General Synod. 





Reva WrctEe. Dat: 


iWheshirst, Pastors Dre HeD. 
Weigle, took charge April 1, 1912. 
Dr. Weigle served the Camp 
Hill Church as a non-resident 
pastor from 1898 until 1912, 
When by the grace of God and 
the efforts of Dr. Weigle the 
church had grown to the extent 
that it was advisable for it to 
have a permanent minister. The 
congregation called Dr. Weigle as 
their first pastor. When the 
parsonage was completed and 
ready for occupancy Dr. Weigle 
became the pastor on the field. 
He served in this capacity faith- 
fully and well until the Master 


called him home on August 28, 1923. Twelve years of friendship- 
making, twelve years of molding of characters, twelve years of 
soul winning, twelve years of service in the Master’s name, that 
will never be forgotten as long as memory holds a seat In our 


minds. 

If success crowns the 
efforts of this congregation 
in the future the credit and 
the praise must be given to 
that one who labored so 
hard and earnestly when 
this parish was in its in- 
fancy. He laid well the 
foundations on which the 
church of to-day is flourish- 
ing. The name of Dr. E. 
D. Weigle, God’s faithful 
servant, will always be 
honored in Trinity Luther- 
an Church. 





TRINITY LUTHERAN PARSONAGE 
CAMP Hitt, PA. 


Rev. William Elwood Swoope was called to succeed Dr. E. 
D. Weigle as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church February 24, 
1924. He entered upon his duties March 9, 1924. 


The present pastor finds that under the administration of Dr. 
E. D. Weigle the church grew from a handful of souls until to-day 


296 HistoRy oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


it has a confirmed membership of 303 souls with a Sunday School 
of over 200 members. 

On March 2, 1924, the congregation dedicated a new Estey 
Organ to the memory of Dr. E. D. Weigle. 





ed ONE, ats Wit MM KOIKC B15 13). 


Pastor OF First LUTHERAN CHURCH, CARLISLE, Pa. 


The present pastor, Rev. A. R. 
Steck, D. D., is the son of the 
late Rev. Daniel Steck, D. D., 
and of Mrs. Susan M. (Edwards) 
Steck. Dr. Steck comes of a 
ministerial family, on his father’s 
side, there having been in the 
early part of his ministry a list of 
eight active ministers of that 
name in the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of the General Synod. 
In the early pioneer period the 
Rev. John Michael Steck min- 
istered for many years in the 
region about Greensburg, Pa.., 
where his descendants still abide. 
He was succeeded by his son 
John Michael Steck, who con- 
tinued the devoted labors of his 
father thru a long succession of years. Both left an honorable 
record for faithful and self-sacrificing toil. 

From the Eastern branch of the family came Dr. Daniel 
Steck, Dr. Jacob Steck, Dr. Charles T. Steck, Dr. John M. Steck, 
Dr. W. H. Steck, Dr. Charles F. Steck, Rev. W. F. Steck, the Rev. 
Charles F. Steck, Jr., and the subject of this sketch, Rev. Dr. A. 
R. Steck. 

The latter was born August 8, 1861, in Lancaster, Pa., when his 
father was pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in that city. 
He was confirmed by his father in St. James’ Lutheran Church in 
Gettysburg, Pa., in the spring of 1876. He matriculated in Get- 
tysburg College in the fall of 1879, from which institution he 
was graduated in 1882. Under constraint of the Holy Spirit he 
chose the ministry of redeeming truth as his life work. He was 
received into the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in the fall 
of 1883, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1886. He 
was licensed to preach by the West Pennsylvania Synod in the 
city of York, Pa., in the fall of 1885, in St. Paul’s Evangelical 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 297 


Lutheran Church. Accepting a call to the Lutheran Church in 
Stewartsville, N. J., in the spring of 1886, he entered upon his 
labors there July 1, following. He was ordained by the East 
Pennsylvania Synod in the fall of 1886. 


Continuing with the pastorate at Stewartsville for the period 
of five vears, he was induced to accept a call to the First Lutheran 
Church of Indianapolis where he labored for three years, from 
1891 to 1894, when he was unanimously called to St. James’ Church, 
Gettysburg, Pa., the congregation formerly served by his father, 
Dr. Daniel Steck. 


Dr. Steck’s labor at St. James’ Church extended through a 
period of nine years, amid blessed memories, and local conditions 
of unsurpassed interest. 

The Union Lutheran Church of York, Pa., made vacant by 
the resignation of Dr. Fastnacht, extended a call to Dr. Steck 
under conditions which constrained him to accept. He took 
charge in the early summer of 1908, and remained there for nearly 
twelve vears. At the close of this period, he was unanimously 
called to the First Church of Carlisle, taking charge, in succession 
to Rev. Dr. G. M. Diffenderfer, February 1, 1914, and where he 
still labors at the time of this sketch. 


Under the ministry of Dr. Steck, the church in Stewartsville 
was enlarged and beautified. The Church of St. James, Gettys- 
burg, was renovated and improved. Falling heir to a debt in 
Carlisle of some $20,000 on the imposing edifice of the First Church, 
his people there, with fine devotion, have removed the last dollar 
of indebtedness thereon. 

In the various congregations served by Dr. Steck, under the 
earnest preaching of fundamental, practical Christianity, the peo- 
ple have preserved the spirit of peace and harmony, and have 
annually presented to the treasury of God’s house increasing sums 
of money with which to extend the church work at home and 
abroad. 

Dr. Steck received the “Doctorate” from his Alma Mater, 
Gettysburg College, in the year 1903, conferred, as he was about 
to take up his work in York, as a testimonial to his loyalty to the 
College and for faithful work in his Gettysburg pastorate. 

Dr. Steck for many years was Secretary of the Board of Di- 
rectors of the Gettysburg Theological Seminary, and continues 
still to be one of its Di ectors. He is President of the Board of 
Trustees of Irving College and Conservatory of Music at Mechan- 
icsburg, Pa., and member of the Examining and Education Com- 
mittees of West Pennsylvania Snyod. 

He was married in 1891 to Miss Bertha Melick of Phillips- 
burg, N. J. The living children of Dr. and Mrs. Steck are Mal- 
colm M. Steck, of Camden, N. J., J. Catharine, Richard Caroll, 
Roger Harold, R. Margaret, and Charles Edwards, at home. 


298 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


EIRST LULAERAN CHURCH, CARLISEE, PAG 
Rav. A. Re Steck, D. D:, Pastor 





First LUTHERAN CHURCH, CARLISLE Pa. 


When Carlisle was little more than a frontier town, about the 
year 1765, the congregation was established. ‘There is much 
obscurity as to the actual date, but we gain this date from the 
borough charter which states that about the year 1765 this con- 
eregation was organized. If the date of the birth of the Rev. 
Jacob Goering, the first minister of this church of whom we have 
any knowledge, was in 1745, he then commenced to labor here in 
1765; but, if he was born in 1755, then this congregation was 
served for 10 years by ministers unknown. We do not know in 
what year the fzrst house of worship was erected. The first one 
was a Union Church, built jointly by the Lutheran and Reform- 
ed congregations, on South Hanover street, near South, upon the 
lot occupied by the now unused Reformed graveyard. It was. 
built of logs. 

The first known minister was the above-mentioned Rev. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 299 


Jacob Goering. He spent his boyhood in York County, and was 
then noted for his intense love of learning. At the age of twenty 
he entered the ministry, assuming as his first charge Carlisle and 
the adjacent territory, an indefinite expression, as it is more than 
probable that he served in Cumberland, York, Franklin and Perry 
counties, riding many miles to remote preaching stations, since 
it Was no uncommon occurrence for the men of those days to ride 
to points thirty and forty miles away. ‘The services were exclu- 
sively German. There are no records of his pastoral labors, the 
earliest we possess being of the vear 1788. He resigned the Car- 
lisle charge in the year 1780, removing to York, where, with the 
exception of one year, he remained until his death, which took 
place in the year 1807. 

The next pastor of the congregation was Rev. John George 
Butler, who was born in the year 1754. He served as a soldier 
in the war of the Revolution. He was a true soldier of the cross, 
bold and fearless. His first labors in the ministry commenced 
here in the year 1780. He found great demoralization prevalent 
in the town, owing to vices occasioned by the war of the Revo- 
lution. He labored very earnestly in Carlisle for six or eight 
years, as the records are uncertain as to date of departure. It is 
said that he was a plain, practical, pungent preacher. He pub- 
lished a sermon delivered to his Carlisle congregation, in the year 
1784, the theme of which was “The Duty of True Heart-prayer.’’ 
He knew evidently the power of prayer by actual experience, 
and, devout and godly himself, he lamented the drawing nigh to 
God with the lips and not with the heart. He was one, as all 
our ministers indeed have been almost without exception, who 
zealously and diligently cultivated the catechization of his young 
people; and it is said that oft in his earnestness he was moved to 
tears by strong desire for the salvation of the souls of those he 
loved, and by his entreaties melted their hearts until all were 
weeping together. 

One fact is clear that our pastors in those days were not paid 
extravagant salaries, since Rev. J. G. Butler received at Cum- 
berland, Md., to which place he removed after his resignation of 
the Carlisle charge, $105, and that too from a charge whose preach- 
ing stations were from forty to sixty miles apart. Rev. J. G. 
Butler, it may be interesting to note, was the grandfather of Dr. 
Butler of Washington, D. C. 

The successor of Rev. Butler was Rev. F. D. Schaeffer, who 
came here most probably in the year 1786, and continued here 
until 1790. He is known to have preached in Cumberland and 
York counties and as one of his successors, Rev. John Herbst, 
was pastor to a church in Duncannon, it is probable he also had 
this remote point under his care. The first church record we 
possess was commenced by him in 1787. The first child baptized 
was Anna Judith Zeigler, daughter of John Jacob and Catharine 


300 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Zeigler. The first communion noted by him was held on the 
fourth Sunday in Advent in the year 1787, at which time 12 were 
confirmed and 31 communed. Rev. Schaeffer was an able and 
learned man who bears an honorable record himself and who left 
behind him sons who stand foremost among the ministers of our 
church. He went from here to Germantown and served that con- 
gregation for 22 vears. 

Rev. Adam Henry Meyer followed him, a man who at least 
knew some Latin, judging by the Latin he used in the church 
records, and, who writes himself Philosophiz Magister, Master of 
Philosophy. We know very little about him, as we have no 
sources of information except the records themselves. He yearly 
confirmed a class of catechumens; but his register of communions 
contains no higher number of communicants than 38. Familiar 
names are now more plentiful, Schaeffer, Spahr, Zeigler, Egolff, 
Wonderlich being of frequent occurrence. .He appears to have 
left in the beginning of 17938, and was succeeded by Rev. John 
Herbst. The church records fail again as there is an entire blank 
with the exception of the entry of three infant baptisms in the 
vear 1814. From other sources we learn that Rev. Herbst was 
faithful in the performance of his duties, and as he labored here 
for several years at least, preaching in a difficult and arduous 
field, riding over a vast extent of territory, embracing all the county 
between Duncannon and Carlisle, he was made of stern material. 

He was succeeded by Rev. Frederick Sanno, a doubtful doc- 
ument says, in 1802. He was a man of undoubted ability, with 
a decided bent towards mechanical pursuits. He ran a wool- 
spinning factory in his house, on the southwest corner of South 
Hanover and Pomfret streets. He was exceedingly handsome and 
also popular. It was during his ministry that the Lutheran and 
Reformed congregations dissolved their union. The Lutherans 
proceeded to erect a church on Bedford near Louther Street. 

It is said that funds were raised by means of a lottery, a 
practice we cannot sanction and yet, we ourselves indulge in, 
when we chance articles at fairs. The cornerstone was laid in 
the year 1807. If the church had not burned down afterwards, 
this would have been the extent of our information; but, after 
the conflagration, and destruction of the old walls, the cornerstone 
Was examined, and within it was found a leaden box, about 6 by 
4 inches, the lid of which bore the simple inscription, ‘‘Rev. 
Friedrich Sanna” 1807. The leaden box contained nothing, but 
an old German catechism together with the notice of the laying 
of the cornerstone. 

We perceive that already the English was making inroads 
upon the German and demanding some privileges. The church 
was entered by two doors on Bedford St. It was much wider 
than deep. The pulpit was on the west side, one of the old cup- 
shaped pulpits, with a sounding board above it. Galleries ran 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 301 


around the other three sides. There was ample room for them 
as the ceiling was very high. Rev. Sanno remained here until 
1814. 

The next incumbent was Rev. John P. Hecht, a young man, 
whose stay was very short, as he came in 1814 and left at the close’ 
of 1815. We know little of him. One record of communion is 
given and that indicates a weak congregation, as but 13 partici- 
pated. 

He was succeeded by that very worthy man, who is beloved 
by all that knew him, Rev. Benjamin Keller, who came to this 
place in the beginning of the year 1816. This was his first charge. 
Under his wise and godly administration, the congregation enters 
upon a new life. The first communion shows a total attendance 
of 125. He cares for the young, builds a parochial school house, 
and afterwards founds the Sunday School. We have from this 
time accurate information. The church records are kept with 
fidelity and precision. 

The charge at this time was composed of eight congregations, 
some of which, however, it appears, were given over to other 
charges during his ministry. The churches were Carlisle, Church- 
town, Trindle Springs, St. John’s below Mechanicsburg, Upper 
Frankford, Lower Frankford, a congregation in Perry, and one 
unknown. It is now that the English language and services begin 
to make rapid advances. We find that the first English com- 
munion was held on the 11th of April, 1824, at which time 32 
English catechumens were confirmed and 69 others communed 
with them. In 1825, it was resolved by the vestry that services 
should be held alternately every Sunday in’ the German and 
English languages, English now claiming equality with the Ger- 
man. In 1827, a request was made by the Faculty of Dickinson 
College that seats in the church might be provided for the use of 
the students of said college. The request was granted and certain 
pews set apart for them. Whether the cause of this was the 
large proportion of English preaching, or, the desire to establish 
friendly relations that the Lutherans might bring here their Theologi- 
cal Seminary we are unable to decide. The facts concerning the 
seminary are the following. This congregation had now become 
one of the influential churches of the Lutherans. Her minister 
and one of her members held seats in the first Board of Directors 
of the Theological Seminary. The seminary not being located, 
was open to proposals from various towns with regard to definite 
site. ‘Carlisle proposed to give $2,000 in money, a house for 
the professor to reside in for five years, and $3,000 towards erect- 
ing a building for the Seminary. In addition they proposed to 
give a lot to the Seminary,—if a proposition of the Trustees of 
Dickinson College was not accepted. The Trustees offered the 
use of a room in the college edifice for the lectures of the Professor 
—a lot of ground, one hundred feet square, convenient and eligible, 


302 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


situated in the college square— the use of the college library to 
the students—gratuitous access to the lectures of the Principal, 
and Professors of Moral Philosophy, Natural Theology, Political 
Economy and Necessity and Evidences of Divine Revelation— 
on condition that the Professor of the Theological Seminary should 
act as a member of the Faculty and as a Professor of Hebrew and 
Oriental Literature in the college.’ As Gettysburg only offered 
$7,000, the liberal spirit of Carlisle almost gained the day. 

Rev. B. Keller appears to have administered the affairs of 
the congregation with the happiest and most blessed results. 
Harmony everywhere prevailed, the church flourished, large ad- 
ditions were made to its membership—in one year, for example 
84 members Were confirmed. His life was beautiful in its christian 
spirit; and his wise amiability won the love and kept the affections 
of his people. A young man of vigorous intellect, of warm af- 
fections, of untiring zeal, of fervent piety he could not fail to 
succeed. After twelve years of ministry he resigned Carlisle for 
Germantown. 


In the early part of the year 1828, Rev. C. F. Heyer became 
the pastor, remaining not quite two years. He was a man of 
earnest, evangelical spirit. When a strong appeal was made on 
the floor of Synod for men to devote themselves to the Foreign 
Mission work, he arose and shaking back his long locks, with noble 
self-sacrificing zeal, cried out, ‘I am no longer young, but, I am 
willing to go.’ An indication of his spirit is given in the following 
words written by himself upon the occasion of his last communion 
services with this congregation: ‘Every member of the vestry, 
and other persons belonging to this congregation communed with 
the exception of six or eight young men, some of whom are teachers 
in§.8. It will perhaps be advisable for my successor at the next 
communion, to speak to them in particular that he may not have 
cause at the commencement of his labors here, to enter the same 
charge against them, which I have reluctantly brought forward on 
this occasion.” During his ministry the mother church sent out 
another colony, the Sulphur Springs congregation, which was or- 
ganized in 1829. 


Rev. Chas. F. Schaeffer, of Philadelphia, was unanimously 
called to be pastor of this congregation on the 20th of October, 
1830. It is not often that a congregation enjoys the ministrations 
of father and son. Cha. Schaeffer was the son of Rev. F. D. 
Schaeffer, D. D., the third pastor of the church. The charge 
now consists of Churchtown, Frankford, Sulphur Springs and Car- 
lisle. This was his first charge also. Whoever knows Dr. Schaef- 
fer, faithful, godly, patient, pains-taking both as a student and 
preacher, of fine intellect, distinguished for accuracy and research, 
can infer that the congregation was ably served by him. He later 
became President of the Faculty of the Theological Seminary of 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 303 


the General Council in Philadelphia, having under him some of 
the best talent of the church. 

The funds of the church were not administered with much 
ability. Notwithstanding they received a legacy from Mrs. 
Margaret Rine, of $1000, (who also presented the church with 
communion service,) and another from the Cope estate of $1830, 
they could not avoid running into debt, which caused them much 
trouble. Rev. C. F. Schaeffer left on the 24th day of August, 
1834, for Hagerstown, and was followed by Rev. John Ulrich, of 
Woodstock, Va., who preached his first sermon as pastor, on the 
30th of November, 1834. 

It is chronicled by Rev. Ulrich, that during his ministry, 
protracted meetings were held, one of which, in 1837, resulted in 
the conversion of sixty-five or seventy souls. There can be no 
doubt of his faithfulness. He was a plain, practical speaker, a 
man of warm heart, and a hard-working and diligent pastor. His 
brethren esteemed him as his election to the Presidency of his 
Synod declares. 

He preached his farewell sermon on the 13th of November, 
removing to Petersburg. He was here as pastor, eight years. He 
in the last years of his life, resided here again, and died on the 
16th of May, 1862, and was buried from this church. 

Rev. J. N. Hoffman, the next pastor, came in the beginning 
of the year 1848, from Chambersburg. The Carlisle congregation 
is now a self-sustaining post. In this same year a project, which 
had been agitated under the previous pastor, viz.: to alter the 
church by putting in a basement for lecture and Sunday School 
purposes, Was carried into effect. The building committee were: 
R. Angney, Henry Myers, Chas Fleager, Jacob Spangler. At that 
time the church owned all the ground from its site to Louther 
street. Alas! Our fathers now sold it, selling the corner lot at 
$350, and the other three at $250 each. The church was remodel- 
ed, but at what cost we cannot say. 

An interesting item appears in 1845, which states that the 
vestry gave twenty dollars for all benevolent purposes, quite a 
contrast to the present liberality of the church. We also find the 
trouble arising out of the conflict of the German and English in- 
terests becoming more complicated. A petition is sent to Synod, 
which sets forth that they do not receive a just share of preaching 
in German and asking for redress. The Synod declined to take 
action, referring it back to the Vestry. The Vestry refused to 
grant the petition and disciplined some of those who presented it 
as misrepresenting facts. 

On the night of Tuesday, the 11th of March, 1851, about 
midnight, a fire broke out in Carlisle in a stable belonging to a 
hotel on Hanover street. The fire soon spread to the adjoining 
stables and buildings, and soon extended to the roof of the Luth- 
eran church, which was entirely consumed. The walls, which 


304 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


were firm and massive, remained standing until Saturday, March 
15th, 1851, when the congregation assembled and, after much 
exertion, pulled them down. The building was not insured. On 
Wednesday evening, the 12th, the council met and determined to 
solicit subscriptions for immediate re-building. The building 
committee first appointed were Chas. Fleager, David Smith, David 
Sipe, Jacob Beetem, John Goodyear. It was determined that 
the size of the church should be 70 ft. by 52. Mr. Jacob Beetem 
took the contract and agreed to put up the entire building for the 
sum of $5,250. Subscriptions were immediately taken and efforts 
made, among all denominations, to obtain contributions. Few 
persons refused, though most others gave but small sums, yet all 
gave a little. The work was at once commenced by Jacob and 
George Beetem, and though delayed by the unusually cold winter 
of ’51-’52, vet it was completed and ready for worship at the end 
of May, 1852. Until the lecture room was finished, in December, 
51, the congregation worshipped in the Second Presbyterian 
Church, which kindly opened its house for them, for which this 
Church will ever hold them in grateful remembrance. <A like 
invitation was received from the German Reformed Church. The 
total cost of the church was $7,122.50, all of which was paid but 
$1,700. On Whit Sunday, the 30th of May, 1852, the new church 
edifice was consecrated to the services of the Triune God. Rev. 
J. N. Hoffman read the dedication service; Rev. C. P. Krauth 
preached in the morning an English sermon; Rev. Schwankoosk1, 
of Chambersburg, delivered a German sermon in the afternoon, 
and Rev. 8. Sechmucker, D. D., an English sermon in the evening. 
About this time complaints came from Frankford and Sulphur 
Springs, Which Rev. Hoffman had supplied for some time, setting 
forth that they had received no preaching from the pastor; but 
this congregation would not heed their request to procure another 
pastor, declaring that Rev. Hoffman was too ill to serve them. 
Trouble, however, was brewing here, which led to the resignation 
of Rev. J. N. Hoffman on the 38rd of July, 1853. He was a man 
of undoubted intellectual ability, equal in preaching power to any 
of his predecessors, but lacked in gentleness and meekness. 

Rev. Jacob Fry, a resident licentiate at the Theological Sem- 
inary at Gettysburg, was next elected pastor and entered upon 
his duties on Sunday, the 5th day of February, 1854. His salary 
was fixed at $600 per annum. His inability to preach the German 
of course made it necessary that those who desired services in 
that language should adopt some method to secure a German 
pastor. After ineffectual attempts to secure a right of worship 
and support, in and from this church, they, after calling Rev. 
Scherenburg, withdrew from this congregation, formed a separate 
organization, worshipped for a time in Education Hall, and, dur- 
ing the ministry of Rev. Naschold, erected the brick church, 
corner of Bedford and Pomfret streets, and entered it on the 5th 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 305 


of July, 1855. It was best that it should be so for the welfare and 
harmony of the congregation. The spiritual life of the congre- 
gation was healthy under Rev. Fry. He was an earnest catechist 
and brought many by his fervent instructions into the church. 
In the year 1856 services were held for five weeks, without inter- 
mission, which resulted in good. It is stated that no “anxious 
bench” was used, but the pastor preferred ‘inquiry meetings,’ 
which were held nearly every afternoon. In January, 1858, 
special services continuing a month were again held, conducted 
similarly to the one before mentioned. There were few additions 
to the membership of the church, its effects being manifest on 
those already members. In 1863 similar meetings were held, 
which resulted in quite a large accession to the church. 


The progressive spirit of the pastor and people is shown by 
their liberality and manifold improvements to the church building. 
The church debt was removed in a novel way. An assessment 
was laid upon each member according to ability, and, to their 
honor be it said, they with scarce an exception accepted and paid 
the assessment. On the 15th of June, 1856, a melodeon was used 
for the first time in the choir. On the 15th of December, 1856, 
another improvement was effected, namely, the parsonage. It 
was built by Henry Myers at a cost of $3,000. The building com- 
mittee were Henry Saxton, Henry 8. Ritter, Chas. Fleager, Frank 
Gardner and Wm. Barnitz. The old school house standing at the 
corner of the alley, built under the ministry of Rev. B. Keller, after- 
wards changed into the sexton’s house, was torn down to make 
room for the parsonage. The sexton’s house was built at the 
same time. On the 27th of June, 1858, the church was illuminated 
with gas for the first time. 


The growing Sunday School, that important part of the 
church, was begging for more room and better accommodations. 
The congregation were quick to respond, as the vestry determined, 
on the Ist of May, 1850, to add twenty feet to the church building. 
Geo. 8. Beetem was the builder. He and Henry Saxton agreed 
to build this addition for $2,000 and take the pay out of the pew- 
rents of the pews of the addition. December 9, 1860, the enlarged 
church was consecrated. The pastor performed the dedication ser- 
vices. Rev. F. W. Conrad, of Dayton, O., preached in the morn- 
ing, after which he raised $1,200 to pay the expenses in the re- 
furnishing and painting of the church. It was raised in 20 
minutes. In the afternoon Rev. EK. W. Hutter, of Philadel- 
phia, preached; Rev. Conrad again in the evening. The church 
is now 931% feet long (including the recess) by 53 feet wide. 
There are 166 pews on tke main floor. 

It was during this pastorate that the war for the Union was 
waged. Many young men of this congregation enlisted; the pas- 
tor himself once headed a company of Home Guards, and I have 


306 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


no doubt was a good soldier. On the 27th of June, 1863, the ad- 
vance cavalry of the Rebel Army rode into Carlisle early in the 
morning, and took possession of the barracks. In the afternoon 
Ewell’s corps (15,000 strong) arrived. However, on Sunday, the 
28th, this church was open, about 30 Rebel officers being present 
and but few of the congregation. They left on the 30th for the 
South. On the 1st of July militia from Harrisburg occupied the 
town. Stuart’s cavalry coming up at 6 p. m. on the East of 
town, finding it filled with Union soldiers, commenced to shell the 
town. This church was struck twice, one shell entered the church 
and exploded in the inside cornice over the choir; another entered 
the roof and lodged in one of the girders supporting the ceiling, 
but did not explode. It was cut out by two of the brethren. 
Geo. 8S. Beetem and Joshua Bixler, a dangerous task which they 
performed neatly, for it was found people were afraid to go to 
church with the shell sticking there. 


On the 29th of January, Rev. Jacob Fry preached his farewell 
sermon and took charge of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Read- 
ing. A man, cultivated, well endowed with gifts; a good preacher, 
of rare social powers, of unusual executive ability, of fervent 
piety, his works speak for him more than words. 


On the 16th of April, 1865, Rev. 8. P. Sprecher, of Milton, 
Pa., preached his introductory sermon as pastor. Nothing special 
is recorded during his ministry except large accessions to the 
church, adding more than 50 a year to the membership, indicating 
his popularity and the influence exerted by his eloquent preaching. 
In the year 1866 this people contributed the very liberal sum of 
$5,000 to the Theological Seminary. Rev. 8. P. Sprecher, gifted 
with a vivid imagination, rich in language, fluent in speech, 
eraceful in -gesticulation, endowed with a more than ordinary 
mind, attracted and held his audiences. He, however, did not 
equal in pastoral or in executive ability some of the former pastors. 

He left this congregation for Albany, in 1868, and was suc- 
seeded by Rev. Joel Swartz, of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 16th of 
July, 1868, at a salary of $2,000. On March 29th, 1869, a pro- 
tracted meeting of eight weeks’ continuance was closed, during 
which, the record states, 147 persons were led to Christ, and 73 
persons were added to the church. Many others were added 
during his ministry in the ordinary way of our church. During 
his ministry the Mite Society placed within the church the beau- 
tiful stained glass windows, at a cost of about $600. 


In August, 1871, Dr. Swartz resigned this congregation to 
take charge of the interests of our church in Williamsport. Dr. 
Swartz was a man of fine intellect, of rich and varied information, 
of winning personal presence both in and out of the pulpit. His 
stvle was felicitous and pleasing, and he combined many elements 
of first-class pulpit ability. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE OUG 





Cuas. S. ALBERT, D. D., 1872-81; G. M. DirFENDERFER, D. D., 1900-13 
REv. JACOB GOERING, 1775-80 
Henry B. WIE, D. D. 1886-99; Wm. S. Freas, D. D., 1882-85. 


308 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


He was succeeded by Rev. Charles 8. Albert, who assumed 
pastoral charge in April, 1872, at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars 
per annum. He came from Lancaster where he had been assistant 
to Dr. Greenawald of the Trinity congregation. He was one of 
the best balanced ministers in the General Synod, of which he 
afterward became President. He was also elected President of 
Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, but did not accept the po- 
sition. 

During his ministry the church building was again enlarged 
at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars. August 25th, 1878, it was 
rededicated. Dr. Gotwald, President of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, Dr. Luther Albert, Dr. Jacob Fry and the pastor took part 
in the services. The building was dedicated free of debt. The 
feast was kept during the following week, Dr. Swartz, late pastor, 
Dr. Kramer of the Reformed congregation, and Dr. Little of Dick- 
inson College, with the pastor, as the ministers. 

During his ministry he made large accessions to the member- 
ship and steadily increased the benevolence of the congregation. 
He left this field amid universal regrets, to take charge of St. 
Mark’s Church at Baltimore, Md., 1881. During his ministry 
the large organ was purchased by the Mite Society of the con- 
eregation. 

Dr. William 8. Freas succeeded him in the early part of 1882. 
He was a man of studied sympathy, keenly sensible to suffering 
of any of his parishioners.. Was very particular in his pastoral 
visits to the members of the congregation and annually confirmed 
large classes and depended upon catechetical work in his minis- 
tration. During his ministry he kept the benevolent operations 
of the church abreast with the other work of the congregation and 
organized the Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society. 
He resigned the charge, to be- 
come pastor of St. Paul’s congre- 
gation in York, Pennsylvania. He 
became President of the General 
Synod and afterward its General 
Secretary. 

Rev. Henry Barr Wile came 
as pastor early in 1886. He at 
once took high rank both as a 
Christian gentleman, a fervent, 
forceful preacher, and a genial 
wholesome socialcompanion. The 
testimony of the congregational 
historian, the late Lt. Col. John 
G. Bobb, is that Dr. Wile was 
tenderly beloved by his people. 
His ministry was successful thru 
Lr. Cox. Joun G. Boss the power of his preaching and 














CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 309 


the charm of his personal contact. He added many members 
to the congregation, and annually increased its benevolent 
contributions. 

During his pastorate St. Paul’s Lutheran congregation was 
formed, and the sale of the old German Lutheran Church, corner 
Pomfret and Bedford Sts. was consummated. Under his minis- 
try, and at his earnest suggestion, the movement was inaugurated 
which culminated in the erection and completion of the present 
imposing church edifice, though, in the providence of God, Dr. 
Wile did not live to look upon the fulfillment of his dreams, and 
the fruition of his hopes and labors. Worn down by a multitude 
of labors, as pastor and President of West Pennsylvania Synod, 
and the responsibilities of the new church enterprize, an insidious 
illness assaulted him from which he was not able to recover. Full 
of honor and brilliant pulpit and personal success, he fell asleep, 
beloved by his congregation and esteemed by all who knew him. 
A choice spirit passed hence when he was taken. He was num- 





AUDITORIUM OF FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, CARLISLE, PA. 


bered among the most commanding preachers in our Lutheran 
ministry. ‘The funeral services were held in the Second Presby- 
terian Church, attended by an immense concourse of people of 
every class and creed. The late Dr. Chas. M. Stock, President of 
Synod took charge of the services. The funeral discourse was 
preached by the late Dr. H. W. McKnight, then President of 
Gettysburg College. The outpouring of the people, the anguish 
of his congregation, attested the full worth and power of the 
consecrated mind and heart of Dr. Wile. | 

Dr. George M. Diffenderfer succeeded Dr. Wile, taking 
charge of the congregation early in the year 1900. Dr. Diffen- 


310 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


derfer exerted a wide ministry in Carlisle. Possessing a genial 
personality, an earnest unctuous preacher, a heart of wide human 
sympathies, and a frank and open defender of the truth, and 
an equally frank and open antagonist of evil, Dr. Diffenderfer 
attained a prominence in the community of Carlisle that was 
worthy of his youthful years and experience, and beyond these. 
Add to his personal and pulpit gifts, that he was an executive of 
fine ability, prepares the reader to believe that Dr. Diffenderfer 
laid broad foundations of usefulness and pastoral and spiritual 
efficiency. 


It fell to his lot to take up the task, dropped by Dr. Wile, 
of finishing the new church building, only fairly begun. He 
entered upon his responsibilities. He pressed the work, and 
under the co-operating labors of officers and people, the dreams 
and hopes and toils and sacrifices of all were fully realized. The 
cornerstone was laid May 6, 1900. The completed edifice was 
dedicated November 10, 1901, Dr. M. Valentine, President of the 
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, preaching the dedicatory 
sermon, and Dr. H. H. Weber managing the finances. The act of 
dedication was performed by the pastor. 


The feast of dedication kept up thru the succeeding week 
when former pastors,—Drs. Fry, Swartz, Freas and Albert par- 
ticipated. 


Dr. Diffenderfer remained pastor until the fall of 1913, when 
his successor was chosen, Rev. A. R. Steck, D. D., of York, Pa. 


Dr. Diffenderfer relinquished the parish amid the universal 
regrets of his people. 

Dr. Steck took charge February 1, 1914, and is the pastor at 
the date of the issue of this historical synodical volume. 

The congregation grows steadily year by year, increasing in 
benevolence and in the spirit of harmony and fraternal good will. 
The spirit of churchly pride and love of order, native to this con- 
eregation, maintains the house of God, and all the affairs incident 
to its operation, under efficient and becoming management. 


A devoted member of the congregation, Mrs. Ella Brenne- 
man, presented the congregation with a peal of bells. The esti- 
mated present value of the Church property 1s $175,000. Cost 
of erection was $97,000. The congregation is without debt, and 
last year contributed the sum of over $17,000 for all objects,— 
a liberal, enlightened and progressive congregation,—the children 
in no sense unworthy of their fathers. 

Four Missionary Societies, three adult, and one juvenile, 
are in active and devoted operation. They keep up the flames of 
redeeming love and knowledge within their own limits and through- 
out the congregation. The impact of their progress, their faith, 
and their devoted gifts is felt in Africa, India, Japan, as well as 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE tL 


in our own land. They are a benediction to the whole congre- 
gation. 

The Sunday School of the con- 
eregation, under the efficient 
superintendency of Mr. 8S. M. 
Goodyear, and a corps of devoted 
officers and teachers, iS in a 
flourishing condition. A fine spir- 
it of co-operation between the 
pastor and the school is carefully 
maintained in the catechetical 
work, and in all approved meth- 
ods of evangelistic activity. The 
spirit of the school is most com- 
mendably liberal in their finan- 
cial responses to right appeals. 
This characterizes the spirit of 
the entire congregation. The to- 
tal number of teachers, officers Mr. 5. M. GoopyEar 
and members, in all departments of the Sunday School is 728. 
The departments are under the care of exceedingly efficient leaders, 
whose consecrated enthusiasm for the Kingdom, as related to 
childhood and youth, is constantly bearing goodly fruit. 

The tides of one hundred and fifty-eight years, in a very 
important sense, meet in the hearts of this congregation of the 
First Church of Carlisle. And for the grand purposes. of peace, 
harmony and brotherhood, for devotion to the fundamental doc- 
trines of our holy religion, as confessed by the United Lutheran 
Church, and for devoted gifts of time, labor and money with which 
to maintain the Kingdom, these children of today are eminently 
worthy of the finest spirit displayed by the fathers. 





S12 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV HARRY eb UX EER eh Ghee) sy 


Pastor OF St. Pau’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, CARLISLE, PA. 


Harry Bixler Stock, son of 
Jacob C. and Mary J. (Zeigler) 
Stock, was born in Carlisle, 
Cumberland County, Pennsylva- 
nia, September 3, 1871. There 
were four children to these par- 
ents, two of whom have died. 
A sister, Miss Margaret 8. Stock, 
lives with her brother. 

Baptism and confirmation were 
received in the Church of the 
parents, the First Lutheran 
Church, Carlisle, Pa., the first 
under the pastorate of Rev. 
Charles 8. Albert, D. D., and 
the second under the pastorate 
of Rev. Henry B. Wile, D. D. 


The early education was in the Public Schools of Carlisle 
from which he was graduated in 1886. The Preparatory School 
of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., was attended one year and 
Dickinson College, four years, graduating in the class of 1891, 
with Phi Beta Kappa honors. He was a member of the Belles 
Lettres Society and the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. 

Two years were spent in teaching in the public schools of 
Carlisle after graduation from College. The decision for the min- 
istry having been definitely settled at this time, the Lutheran 
Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa., was entered in 1893, from 
which institution graduation followed in 1896, he being one of 
the Commencement speakers. 

Licensure was received from the West Pennsylvania Synod 
in session in Zion Lutheran Church, York, Pa., October 20, 1895, 
and ordination from the same Synod in session in St. James’ 
Lutheran Church, Gettysburg, Pa., October 18, 1896. 

A call was extended to become pastor of the Second German 
Lutheran Church, Carlisle, Pa., which was afterwards changed in 
name to the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church with all services in the » 
English language. 

The call was accepted to become effective June 1, 1896, which 
charge he continues to serve to date, 1925, having completed, 
June 1, 1925, twenty-nine years as pastor. 

A new and attractive church building was erected in another 
part of the town, during this pastorate, the debt of which, repre- 
senting a cost of about $86,000, has been entirely met. 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE bls 


Dickinson College, his Alma Mater, conferred the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity, at the observance of the 125th Anniversary 
of the College, June 10, 1908. 

He was Secretary of the West Pennsylvania Synod, 1902- 
1904, and President of the same Synod, 1920-1922. He is at 
present a member of the Ministerial Education Committee and a 
member of the Synodical representation on the Board of Directors 
of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, of which 
Board he was elected Secretary, 1923. He is a member of the 
Board of Home Missions and Church Extension of the United 
Lutheran Church, on which Board he has been serving continuous- 
ly from 1915, in the General Synod, until the present. 

He was actively connected, during the war period, with the 
Red Cross work of the Carlisle Chapter and was Chairman of 
the Four Minute Men Organization of Cumberland County as 
well as Chairman of several of the financial campaigns of the 
County. 

He has been closely associated with the moral and religious 
work of the community and the County. 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, CARLISLE, PA. 
Rev. Harry B. Stock, D. D., PAstor 


“The Second German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of 
the Borough of Carlisle, Pennsylvania,” was organized and in- 
corporated September 8, 1854. This was formed by a number of 
people preferring the services of the church in the German lan- 
guage, When that language was discontinued in the service of the 
First Lutheran Church, Carlisle, Pa. 

A lot of ground was bought at the corner of Pomfret and 
Bedford Streets for $400, on which a two-story brick church 
building was erected, costing $3000. The cornerstone was laid 
August 5, 1854 and the building dedicated August 5, 1855. <A 
parsonage was erected on a lot near the church on Pomfret 
Street. This building was sold at the time of the removal of the 
congregation to another part of the town. 

The following eighteen pastors served the congregation from 
1854 to 1895: 


Prof. Blumenthal preached for the congregation before the 
church was built. 


Hee CAIN SUG ncn eect eee neon SAAT ok L854 1857 
COME AY CAC OO for to bck Ede ean Sco ey eee ic. 1857-1859 
Cin Ne LU LW Nisy ae Rn ae he Owen A Meiers eee 1859-1860 
CREAMS CT ITT GLEN ete, come Ap adgts MMe RE! DES ith g 1860-1861 


ENERO CHAD GRINS tre, TAS AT tas © Serie ema Men ew ai leAL SZ 1861-1862 


314 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


(=>) BY CHCl Aas Te wet Ba dos ta ot lM anc Ae, teal 1862-1864 
HB Kuhn gered sere Seni oRh Phac SIA 2 hard a ee ee 1864-1868 
Fo Schoppy terete Pt 28h stg |e ee ee 1868-1869 
H&G USCHINiC teens con oR ens 1869-1870: 
Bia Hocers yee wees tr i A CON gd tan See 1870-1875 
Gap clinic Geert ahh © doe kel 00 'cs sete eng oe 1875-1876 
Otto Einole ss vee peewee tt ay a en eee ee 1877-1878 
Hie Daron a ier age oe 2 aks ee = cee oe Nv ee! eee 1878-1883 
Philp a WiCtich = oe eam erent. ea nc rhein ears ee ace 1883-1885 
Fs Wittich:. sere ae eye lee eens .... 1885-1886 
BoB Katze eee i i gt as che ee 1888-1890 
Wis COSELdGI ae Nota eaters Poa 0e Ura np ane 1890-1895 





SECOND GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, CARLISLE, PA. 


The pastor’s salary was from $300 to $400, except for a period 
when the Board of Home Missions gave $200 per annum additional. 

Pastor Seidel left the following record: “This congregation 
has passed through many trying ordeals, partly from external 
causes, and largely from internal characteristics, holding too 
tenaciously to the German language. The children left them and 
united with other congregations. Finally about 1890, some Eng- 
lish preaching was permitted and English literature used in the 
Sunday School.” 

A call was extended to Rev. Harry Bixler Stock, a Senior of 
the Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, to become the pastor. 
The call was accepted, to become effective June 1, 1896. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE ald 


The congregation petitioned the Court to amend the charter, 
making all the services in the English language, and changing 
the name to “The St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of the 
Borough of Carlisle, Pa.’? The charter was amended and con- 
firmed by the Court, July 28, 1896. 


The reorganized congregation soon took on new life, and at 
once began preparations for a new building in another part of 
the town. A lot,on West Louther Street, 60 by 200 feet, was 
purchased December 7, 1896, for $3800. A strip of ground 20 





St. Pauu’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, CARLISLE, PA. 


feet on North West Street by 60 feet deep, as an entrance to the 
proposed Chapel, was bought February 18, 1898, for $750. 

Ground breaking for the new chapel was held May 30, 
1898; the cornerstone was laid September 4, 1898, and the chapel 
dedicated May 14, 1899. The total cost of the building including 
furnishings was $13,748.09. 


The former church building, Bedford and Pomfret Streets, 


316 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


was sold to the Trustees of the Carlisle Presbytery, April 1, 1900, 
for $2000. 

The corner property adjoining the chapel property was bought 
February 2, 1904, for $5750. 

Ground breaking services for the completed church structure 
were held April 24, 1905. The cornerstone laying services were 
held September 3, 1905. The church was dedicated May 19, 
1907. The total cost including furnishings was $44,783.27. 


The last dollar of indebtedness on the entire church building 
was paid June 24, 1923. The entire cost of grounds, buildings, 
equipment and interest amounted to about $87,000. 


The church has the following organizations in addition to 
the Sunday School: Senior C. E. organized October 17, 1896; 
Junior C. E., January 14, 1900; Intermediate C. E., June 8, 
1906, reorganized 1923; Ladies’ Mite Society, September 2, 1896; 
Women’s Missionary Society, May 9, 1900; Gleaners’ Mission 
Band, (now The Light Brigade) September 20, 1902; Young 
People’s Missionary Society, December 9, 1920; Ushers’ Assoc- 
iation, November 29, 1907; Boy Scouts, 1923. 


The congregation decided November 11, 1923, to support a 
Missionary in India, and the Board assigned Miss Clara Leaman, 
a former member of the congregation, as the Missionary. Muss 
Leaman went to India in October, 1928. 


The congregation has given one of her members as a Deacon- 
ess, Sister Ida (Klucker). 

The congregation has always met its apportionment to the 
Synodical benevolence and responded to all the regularly author- 
ized appeals of the church. The Every Member Canvass is 
conducted yearly. 


At the time of the reorganization of the congregation in 1896 
there were less than fifty “members in active fellowship. The 
attendance at Sunday School was 52. The last report to Synod 
(1923) showed 485 Communicant Members, 530 Confirmed 
Members; 670 Baptized Members; Sunday School Membership 
(including Cradle Roll and Home Department) 660. The total 
contributions in these years for all purposes was about $170,000 
of which amount $28,000 were given for benevolence. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 3 
REV. HENRY ANSTADT, D. D. 


PASTOR OF THE First LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 


Selinsgrove, Pa., was the birth 
place of the subject of this 
sketch, where he was born in 
1869 of the Rev. Peter Anstadt, 
D. D., and his wife Elizabeth 
Ann (Benson) Anstadt. Before 
he had completed the first year 
of his life the family removed to 
York, Pa.. His religious training 
was gained first in the spiritual 
atmosphere of a pious Christian 
home, and continued in the Sun- 
day School and catechetical in- 
struction of Zion Lutheran 
Church during the pastorate of 
the Rev. A. W. Lilly, D. D., by 
whom he was received into com- 
municant membership in the 
church through the rite of con- 
firmation. 

The public schools and the York Collegiate Institute fur- 
nished his preparatory education; he was graduated from the 
latter institution in 1887 as the valedictorian of his chass. En- 
tering the Junior Class of Gettysburg College in the fall of 1889, 
after teaching school in the upper end of York County for one 
winter, he was graduated with the class of 1890, and was included 
in the honor list for class standing. Impelled by the godly ex- 
ample of his father, and encouraged by his older brother, the late 
Rev. W. W. Anstadt, he heeded the call to the gospel ministry 
and began his preparation at the Gettysburg Theological Sem- 
inary in the fall of 1890. During his second year at the Seminary 
he also taught in the preparatory school of the College; and during 
the year 1892-93 he taught in the York Collegiate Institute. He 
was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at York in 1892 
and re-licensed the following year at Carlisle before resuming his 
theological course at Gettysburg in the fall of 1893. He was 
graduated the following spring, and selected by the faculty of 
the Seminary as one of the three speakers to represent the class 
in the commencement program. His ordination took place in the 
fall of 1894, in the First Lutheran Church of Chambersburg, 
which he is now serving as pastor. 

In July, 1894, he accepted an invitation to become associate 
pastor with the Rev. J. G. Goettman, D. D., of Trinity Lutheran 
Church, Allegheny, Pa., in which position he continued for one 





318 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


year when he became associated with his father in the work of 
editing and publishing the series of International Sunday School 
Lesson Helps which his father had established many years before, 
and which had gained a good circulation among the schools of our 
Lutheran church. For eleven years he continued his ministry 
of religious education in this way, until in September, 1906, he 
became pastor of Christ (College) Lutheran Church of Gettys- 
burg, Pa. In the fall of 1911 he resigned in order to accept a call 
to the pastorate of Luther Place Memorial Church of Washington, 
D. C., upon which service he entered January 1, 1912. At the 
present time he is the pastor of the First Lutheran Church of 
Chambersburg, Pa., where his pastorate began in October, 1918. 

He has been honored by his Alma Mater, Gettysburg College, 
with the degree of A. M., in 1893, and with the degree of D. D., 
in 1917. He has represented his Synod at a number of meetings 
of the General Svnod and of the United Lutheran Church; and is 
at present a member of the Church Paper Committee and of the 
Boards of the National Lutheran Home for the Aged and the 
Tressler Orphans’ Home. 

He was married October 24, 1906, to Miss Emma Cavender 
Jones. They have one child, Mary Elizabeth. 





FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 


Rev. Henry Anstapt, D. D., Pastor 





First LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 


The first settlers of this part of the Cumberland Valley were 
of Scotch-Irish lineage and were consequently, as far as their re- 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 319 


ligious faith and practice were concerned, Presbyterians. They 
were earnest and zealous in the establishment of their denomina- 
tion and were rewarded for their labors. But the “natural ad- 
vantages and beauties of our Valley,” as another puts it, had a 
charm for others, and we have the Scotch-Irish followed by the 
industrious German. These Germans were either Lutheran or 
Reformed in religious faith. It is said they came about the year 
1740 and “located in the neighborhood of what is now known as 
Grindstone Hill.’”” We have no record of their having had preach- 
ing in their own tongue prior to 1765, when they were visited by 
Rev. John Bager, whose home was near Hanover and who at- 
tended, as best he could under the circumstances, to their spiritual 
wants. About the year 1770 he was succeeded by Rev. John 
George Young, who preached in the German language “‘in the 
Scotch-Irish village of Chamberstown.”’ 


The first Lutheran congregation in this county was organized 
by him and served by him until 1783, when he was succeeded by 
Rev. John Michael Steck. In 1780 the members of the Lutheran 
and Reformed congregations residing in Chambersburg united in 
erecting a two-storied log church building. This building was 
surmounted by a cupalo. For some years after its erection there 
were no pews, the worshippers being obliged to sit upon rough 
blocks cut from the roots of trees. This primitive church building 
stood on the ground now occupied by our present building, and 
was occupied jointly until the year 1808. The congregations 
separated about this time because of a disagreement on the 
question of permitting a man, who had committed suicide, to be 
buried in the grave yard. He was a member of the Reformed 
Church and the Lutheran people opposed his burial in the church 
yard. When the separation occurred the old log church building 
fell into the hands of the Lutherans. It was at once removed and 
a brick building erected. It was in this building that a large 
pipe organ, of superior tone, was built, probably the first organ 
of this sort in the Cumberland Valley. 


It must be remembered that up to 1831, the services in the 
Lutheran Church were conducted exclusively in the German lan- 
guage. In that year Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, who subsequently 
figured so conspicuously in the affairs of the church at large and 
who was so prominently identified with the educational interests 
of the church, recognizing the fact that the English language was 
destined to supercede the German in the near future, introduced 
alternate English and German preaching. His act was most Wise, 
as results have proven. It was in this year, 1831, that the con- 
eregation was incorporated, the corporate name being “the Elders 
Deacons, Trustees and members of the English Evangelical Luth- 
eran Church of Chambersburg.’ In 1890 a new charter was 
granted by the Court of Franklin County, and the corporate 


320 History oF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


name changed to the “First Evangelical Lutheran Church of 
Chambersburg, Pa.”’ 


In January, 1874, the old parsonage was sold to Mr. John 
Gerbig, and the ‘Nill property” on South Second Street was 
purchased for. $5000. In June of the same year the Building 
Committee was authorized to erect a two-story addition to the 
north side of the parsonage. With commodious porches and 
many modernizing improvements from time to time, this fine old 
colonial house still furnishes a comfortable residence for the 
pastor and his family. 


The present church edifice was erected in 1854, during the 
ministry of Rev. W. F. Eyster. In 1892 the pipe organ, now in 
use in the auditorium, was purchased from A. B. Felgemaker, of 
Erie, Pa. The purchasing committee were: J. P. Keefer, Samuel 
Gelwix, Samuel Garver, Dr. J. P. Seibert and L. B. Eyster. In 
order that the organ might be placed to the best advantage, and 
also to provide a suitable and convenient room for the primary 
department of the Sunday School, an annex was built to the church. 
Samuel Monath was both contractor and builder. Both organ 
and room were dedicated on Sunday, July 10, 1892. The sermon 
was preached by Rev. J. A. Wirt, D. D. The dedicatory act was 
performed by the pastor, Rev. E. H. Leisenring. 

Extensive improvements were made to the church in 1900, 
including steel ceilings, new lighting system, pews, painting and 
papering, totaling $6699.31 in cost, besides memorial stained 
glass windows and other donated improvements. 


In the fall of 1913 a great spiritual revival in town under the 
direction of the Rev. W. E. Biederwolf, D. D., brought many 
accessions to the church membership. Under the devoted pas- 
toral care and religious training of Dr. O. C. Roth they were 
wisely nurtured, and many of them today are numbered among 
the prominently faithful members of the church. 


At a cost of about $8000 a new one story building was erected 
for the use of the over-crowded primary department of the Sunday 
School in 1920. This addition was placed at the northwest corner 
of the church building and covers a space of 36x48 ft., furnishing 
four bright rooms, separated by canvas rolling partitions, for the 
beginners and three other primary classes. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 321 


The congregation has always 
been earnestly interested in 
Christian missions, and is today 
thoroughly organized with two 
women’s societies, a young ladies’ 
society and a flourishing Light 
Brigade. A very practical ex- 
pression of this missionary in- 
terest Was manifested when, in 
January, 1924, the church through 
individual and Sunday School 
and Christian Endeavor sub- 
scriptions assumed the support 
of its own representative in the 
foreign field—Mr. James W. 
Miller, himself a son of the con- 
eregation, who with the valuable 
equipment of a skilled architect Mr. James W. MILLER 
had two years before accepted the 
call to become the builder and industrial instructor at our Lutheran 
mission in Liberia, Africa. Miss Marian Eyster Schmitthenner, a 
daughter of the First Lutheran Church, also went to the foreign 
field in 1921, and is now located at Tadepalligudem, Kistna Dis- 
trict, India. 


Following is the list of pastors from 1831 to the present. 
The year indicates the time each entered upon his ministerial 
work in Chambersburg. 


1831—Rey. B. Kurtz,D. D:; 
1833—John N. Hoffman; 
1848—Samuel Sprecher, D. D.; 
1850—J. L. Schock; 

1858—W. F. Eyster, D. D.; 
1860—Jacob Steck, D. D.; 
1864—F. W. Conrad, D. D.; 
1866—J. A. Kunkleman, D. D.; 
1868—Irving Magee, D. D.; 
1869—L. A. Gotwald, D. D.; 
18/75:-—A.s. Hartman, D..D:; 
1890—E. H. Leisenring, D. D.; 
1908—O. C. Roth, D. D.; 
1915—J. C. Nicholas, D. D.; 
1918—Henry Anstadt, D. D. 


From the ranks of the Sunday School and Church membership 
the following sons of the congregation have entered into the 
service of the gospel ministry: Revs. John Heck, Solomon Me- 
Henry, Benjamin C. Suesserott, George Leisher, Adam Haight, 
Jacob H. Heck, John G. Goettman, D. D., Cassimer B. Ludwig, 








CHURGCHPVEOUN CIC OGTRIRST EU HERANTGCEUR.GEL 


Henry Martin Geko. W. IMMELL, Sr. E. M. Smiry J. Cart SHULL 
CHas. E. KuHN Dr. JoHN M. GELWIx 
Wn. Mackey OvLER Rev HENry Anstapt, D. D. Cuas. A. OVER 
B. FRANK SHANER WILLIAM STOVER 
Cet LL: KEreer Harry J. Nutz Harry H. HuBer 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 3203 


H. 8. Cook, William L. Leisher, F. G. Gotwald, D. D., and Her- 
bert H. Hartman. 

The church records were destroyed at the tume of the burning of 
this town by the Confederate Army in 1864, and, therefore, much 
valuable historical information vs lost. 

The First Lutheran Church has been instrumental in the 
organization of the other two Lutheran Churches in our town. 
In 1836 the Second Church was organized, owing to dissatisfaction 
caused by the introduction of the English language in the church 
services several years prior. ‘Those who withdrew were given 
$1800 by the remaining portion of the congregation to assist them 
in the erection of their church edifice. Trinity Lutheran Congre- 
gation was organized in 1890, Rev. E. H. Leisenring, the pastor 
of this church, installing the officers elected by said congregation, 
in the presence of those who were then the council of this church. 

The Sunday School of our church was organized in 1831, 
during the pastorate of Rev. B. Kurtz. It has been blessed with 
the leadership of a succession of most earnest and capable Chris- 
tian men as superintendents: Messrs. Samuel Wentz, Frederick 
Smith, who served for a period of twenty-four years, when failing 
health induced him to tender his resignation; George Messer- 
smith, who retained his position until the time of his death, 
April 23, 1881, a period of twenty-five years, to which may be 
added five years as superintendent of the primary department; 
Prof. Samuel Gelwix, who also filled out a twenty-five years’ 
term of very efficient service; W. H. Snyder; Wm. P. Britsch; T. 
Z. Minehart, Esq.; George W. Hafer; and Hiram P. Plasterer. 

It 1s an item of special interest in this Centennial year of the 
West Pennsylvania Synod that the organization meeting of the 
Synod was held in this church in September, 1825, and that the 
congregation enjoys the honor of opening its doors for the sessions 
of this important and interesting centennial celebration of the 
Synod. 


324 History oF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. RALPH ROY RICHARD 
PASTOR OF SECOND LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. 


The subject of this sketch was 
born in Frederick County, Vir- 
einia, the son of Rev. Asa and 
Mary L. Richard (nee Bean). 
He was baptized in infaney by 
Rev. William J. Smith and. later 
confirmed by Rev. William L. 
Seabrook, pastor Grace Church, 
Winchester, Va. Here he re- 

~ceived his elementary and _ sec- 
ondary education in the public 
schools and at the Shenandoah 
Valley Academy under the prin- 
cipalship of Prof. James Byron 
Lovett. He received his collegi- 
ate education at Roanoke and 
after his graduation taught school 
for several years. It was his in- 
tention to make this profession a 
life calling, but because of a physical infirmity it was necessary 
to give up the idea. 
At the suggestion of Prof. John D. Rodeffer, Roanoke College, 
a U.S. Civil Service examination was taken, which later was 
followed with a clerical appointment in the U. 8. Navy Yard, 
Norfolk, Va. Clerical life proving somewhat distasteful because 
of its routine nature and an impulse from within for a larger 
field of service having arisen, he decided to resign his government 
position and to enter the Seminary at Gettysburg, from which 
institution he was graduated with the degree of B. D. in 1915. 
He was licensed by the East Pennsylvania Synod in Zion 
Church, Harrisburg, in the fall of 1914, and ordained by the 
Pittsburgh Synod in Bethany Church, Pittsburgh, in the fall of 
1915. He served at Shippenville and Smicksburg in the Pitts- 
burgh Synod until the fall of 1920, when he began his work at 
Lineboro in the Maryland Synod. After a service here of more 
than four years he began work in his present field as pastor of 
Second Lutheran Church, Chambersburg, Pa. 
On October 30, 1915, he was united in marriage to Miss Lea 
Leone Burton, Berrien Springs, Michigan, to which union have 
been born two children, Mary Beth and Burton Randolph. 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 325 


SECOND LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 


Rev. Ratpy R. RicHarp, Pastor 





SECOND LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 


In 1780, the German Reformed and Lutherans united, and 
erected what is now the First Lutheran Church of Chambersburg, 
formerly called St. John’s. As the town grew, the English lan- 
gvuage gained the ascendency. ‘This naturally affected the Church. 
The younger element, not being able to follow intelligently a 
German discourse, demanded English services. German emi- 
eration to Chambersburg and community having ceased, the first 
church yielded to the demands of the younger congregation. ‘This 
was a severe blow to the German members. It at once became 
apparent to them that if they desired to worship God in their 
native tongue, they must seek a new church home. Consequently, 
in 1836 a number of Lutheran and German Reformed members 
severed their connection from the First Church and erected a 
place of worship on East Washington St. 

This building was simple in design, but well constructed, 
costing about $2400.00. On account of financial embarrassments, 


326 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the building was not used as a place of worship until 1839. In 
the meantime, worship was temporarily conducted in the Masonic 
Hall, South Second Street. On September 14th, 1839, the church 
was opened for the first time as a place of worship. On that date 
a Lutheran congregation was organized, consisting of the follow- 
ing fifteen men and their families: George Hoffman, Adam Trietsch, 
Philp Peiffer, George F. Dittman, Anthony Hornung, John 
Monath, John Geotman, Frederick Dittman, Leonard Ebert, 
George Ludwig, Lewis Heist, Henry Bauer, Peter Wendal, 8. 
Reiz, Conrad Neuroth. 

At the first congregational meeting, he!d on September 14th, 
1839, a committee of four was appointed to nominate members 
for a council. The members of the committee were Anthony 
Hornung, George Hoffman, Adam ‘Trietsch, and Philip Peiffer. 
At the next congregational meeting the committee reported, and 
the following brethren were elected as members of the first council: 
Elders, Frederick Dittman, George Geotman, Conrad Neuroth, 
Peter Wendal; Deacons, George Hoffman, George Ludwig, John 
Monath, Henry Bauer; Trustees, Leonard Ebert, Lewis Heist. 
Steps were taken at once to call a pastor. On December 10th, 
1839, a contract was made with Robert Clemens for one year. 

The first difficulty that confronted this small but energetic 
congregation was a debt of $1400.00. How to meet this was a 
grave question. But this anxiety was removed thru the noble 
and generous disposition of Leonard Ebert, George Geotman, and 
George Ludwig, who assumed the debt. 

On April 16th, 1841, a charter was secured. ‘The title of 
the Church, according to the charter, is the ‘‘“Trustees, Elders, 
Deacons, Pastor, and Members of the Second Lutheran Church.”’ 
In the same year, under the administration of Rev. J. H. Fisher, 
a constitution was formulated. 

Profiting by past experience, they determined that the Eng- 
lish language should forever be debarred from the Second Lutheran. 
Church. This the following articles of the Constitution verify: 


ARTICLE VI 


Since we are of the opinion that the sound doctrine of the 
Gospel in its purity and most effective state since the time of the 
apostles and since the beginning of the Christian era was preached 
in Germany at the time of the Reformation; and since we are still 
further of the opinion that this doctrine finds its truest and most 
adequate expression in the German mother-tongue, and since it 
is our intention to remain in living union in the faith with our 
fathers, we make a holy, irrevocable and eternal decree, that this 
our church shall be and shall remain German in name, form, and 
spirit, in its internal and external life. The instruction of the 
divine word, so far as the religious instruction of the children is 
concerned, shall always be in German and never in English. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE B2y 


ArtTIcLE VII 


To keep our mother tongue pure and unmixed in our midst, 
the church shall see that there is maintained along side of her a 
good German school in which the children of the congregation 
can be instructed in the language of the fathers. 


ARTICLE X LIV 


Any regular appointed minister of this congregation who 
afterwards only attempts to preach the Word of God once, or 
every now and then to his congregation in the English language, 
or even dares to impart this language in the religious instruction 
of the youth once or oftener, eo zpso forfeits his office. Should 
the minister who made this attempt be retained thru friends, 
members who made the protest may demand their contribution. 


ArticLeE LIII 


Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 34, and 44 can never be reversed 
as long as one or more members are opposed. But in case the 
congregation, against the wishes of this one or more members, 
advocates a revision of the articles set forth in Article LIII, these 
one or more members have full right to confer to themselves all 
the property, according to the rights and principles of our Church 
Constitution. 

And we, the writers and founders of this document and con- 
eregation give to the authorities of Franklin County the right to 
deliver over to one or more such members the above named prop- 
erty. And yet, in such an event, no change shall be made relative 
to the church property. 

This constitution had to be signed by every member, and on 
Easter of each year it was to be read publicly. 

Once more the religious ambition of these German brethren 
was gratified. They believed that here they could worship God 
in their native tongue undisturbed. They felt themselves strong- 
ly fortified behind such a constitution. Invasion seemed impos- 
sible. But ere long the busy forces of progress began to invade 
their territory. The English language, which they determined 
should forever be excluded, slowly worked its way into their midst 
and demanded recognition. Every effort was put forth to drive 
out the enemy. A severe struggle was destined to follow, mani- 
festing itself already during the pastorate of Rev. G. Rhoades. 
But nothing of importance took place until Rev. R. H. Clare 
took charge of the field. Rev. Clare at once saw the outcome of 
the issue. To continue the struggle without any concession to 
the demand of English would be an immediate detriment to the 
best interests of the church, and if continued, would ultimately 
destroy it. Brother Clare put forth his best efforts to bring 
about such concession as would meet the demands of both. His 


328 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


purpose was to introduce an occasional English service for the 
younger English speaking members, so that they might worship 
God intelligently. But this met with violent opposition. Rev. 
Clare left the field unable to bring about a peaceful settlement. 
But his life and work were of such a consecrated nature that both 
are still lingering in the minds of those among whom he was 
laboring. Rev. Clare was followed by Rev. A. Kurtz. By the 
imprudence of this brother, who, it is said, ordered all who wanted 
English to leave the church, the church sustained an almost ir- 
reparable loss. Thirty of the best members left at this time, 
most of them uniting with the First Church. 

Nothing of importance took place until Rev. H. F. Kroh 
took charge of the pastorate. Brother Kroh at once realized that 
the life of the church depended upon a change of language. The 
opposition was still great, but the German members, having been 
reduced in numbers, the rest slowly yielded to the inevitable. 
By the faithful work of Brother Kroh among the remnant of the 
young people, the congregation was saved from a natural death. 
In June, 1902, Rev. C. W. Diehl took charge of the field. At this 
time it was decided to dispense entirely with German preaching. 

The introduction of the English language at all the services 
naturally gave a new impulse to the young congregation. Steps 
were taken at once to improve the old edifice so as to keep it in 
harmony with the aggressive spirit of the town. How to make 
suitable changes, such as would modernize the old building and 
yet keep within the financial ability of the congregation, was a 
grave question. But the ardent spirit of the young congregation 
could not be checked by the gravity of the situation. On Decem- 
ber 18th, 1902, Rev. C. W. Diehl, John Leibold, and A. C. Hug 
were appointed by the council as a committee to interview M. R. 
Rhodes, architect, as to how to modernize the building. On 
February 22nd, 1903, at a regularly called congregational meeting, 
it unanimously decided to accept the improvements.as suggested 
by M. R. Rhodes. Rev. C. W. Diehl, John Leibold, John A. 
Shoemaker, A. C. Hug, and John Seibert, Sr. were appointed as 
a building committee. On April 6th the contract was awarded 
to M. R. Rhodes, the cost of the improvements to be $4,640.00, 
without the furnishings. On April 15th, the contract for the 
furniture was awarded to the Grand Rapids Furniture Company, 
Michigan, for $642.50. On May 21st, the contract for the win- 
dows was let to C. Day Rudy & Co., of Harrisburg for $850.00. 

On June 7th, 1903 the corner stone was laid, Rev. E. H. 
Leisenring, pastor of the First Lutheran Church, Chambersburg; 

Zev. C. G. White, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Chambers- 
burg; and Rev. R. H. Clare of Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, a 
former pastor, assisted in the services, the latter preaching an 
able sermon appropriate to the occasion. Rev. Clare based his 
remarks on Psalms 118:22-28, and Ephesians 2:2. The corner 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 329 


stone was then laid by the pastor. The offering for this occasion 
was $42.51. 

Work on the building was proceeding slowly when the council 
was called to the office of M. C. Kennedy of the Cumberland 
Valley Railroad Company. Mr. Kennedy presented a blue print 
showing the proposed new line. Three routes were surveyed, the 
preferable one running thru the centre of the church edifice sit- 
uated on East Washington St. From this it was deemed advisa- 
able on the part of the council to sell, since the church could not 
thrive along side of a busy railroad. On the following morning, 
Rev. C W. Diehl and W. J. Zacharias, Esq., again met in Mr. 
Kennedy’s office. After a lengthy discussion in which details 
were carefully weighed, the Cumberland Valley Railroad. Com- 
pany agreed to pay $17,500 for the property entire, and $1000 
extra for the disinterring and reinterring of the dead. The council 
decided to present this proposition to the congregation. In the 
meantime, the committee took up the matter of a new location. 
After careful investigation and consideration, it was found that 
the property situated on East Washington Street and Harrison 
Avenue, lately purchased from the Wallace estate by John Lortz, 
could be bought thru the kindness of Mr. Lortz for $2500; and also 
the adjoining property owned by Mr. D. M. Sheller for $4,500. 

On September 9th, 1903, the congregation met in the Y. M. 
C. A. building, on Broad Street, where worship was temporarily 
conducted. The pastor placed before the congregation a special 
sketch of the three proposed routes of the C. V. R. R. Co., to- 
gether with the Company’s offer to purchase. After duly con- 
sidering all the circumstances involved, it was unanimously de- 
cided to accept the proposition of the C. V. R. R. Co., and im- 
mediately purchase the two properties on East Washington 
Street, owned by Mr. Lortz and Mr. Sheller respectively. 

Steps were taken at once to have plans drawn up for a new 
church edifice. On October 16th, plans and specifications were 
presented to the committee. On October 23rd, the contract was 
awarded to F. V. Hege, of Marion for $8,475.00; Augustus Wolf 
to furnish the artificial stone trimming at $525.00. 

On Sunday, November 29th, 1903, the corner stone was laid. 
In it were placed the names of the present membership, the church 
council, and building committee, a German Bible and Hymnal, 
several German and United States coins, and a copy of the Luth- 
eran Observer of November 25th, 1903. The services were in 
charge of the pastor, who was assisted by Rev. E. H. Leisenring, 
D. D., pastor of the First Lutheran Church of Chambersburg; 
Rev. C. G. White, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church of Cham- 
bersburg; and Rev. T. C. Billheimer, D. D., of the Theological 
Seminary at Gettysburg, Penna., the latter preaching an able 
sermon appropriate to the occasion. The pastor, Rev. C. W. 
Diehl, then laid the corner stone. 


330 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The dedication of the new building took place on Sunday, 
June 12th, 1904. Rev. T. C. Billheimer, D. D., of the Seminary 
at Gettysburg, again assisted the pastor. Appropriate services 
were held thru out the week following with the following brethren 
assisting: Rev. G. C. Henry of Shippensburg, Pa.; Rev. T. O. 
Keister of Greencastle, Pa.; Rev. P. H. Miller of Westminster, 
Md.; Rev. J. H. Harms of Harrisburg, Pa.; and the Rev..G. M. 
Diffenderfer of Carlisle, Pa. 

During the last score of years the work of the church has 
been steadily moving onward under the leadership of the follow- 
ing pastors: Rev. C. W. Diehl, Rev. C. W. Heathcote, Ph. D., 
Rev. H. A. Stauffer, Rev. T. Bahn Thomas, Rev. Wm. F. Sunday, 
Rev. Chas. D. Geiger, and Rev. Ralph R. Richard. 

In 1922, during the pastorate of Rev. Wm. F. Sunday, the 
church edifice was extensively repaired at a cost of about $5000.00. 

This congregation has sent one son, Rev. Chas L. Venable 
of Easton, Md., into the active work of the ministry, and has 
another, Mr. Sawyer M. Mosser, at Gettysburg College in prep- 
aration for the Christian ministry. 

The following is a list of pastors who have served Second 
Lutheran Church: 


Reve. RA Clemence ee ee eee 1839-40 
Reviid S HSKIShe rare es he eee eee 1841-’44 
Reve Githe Brandaw 2a 3 ee een ee 1844—’48 
ReviGTevlr Mera ee eee res 1848-49 
RevaGs Bowman 2 eee ee eee 1849-’51 
Reva Ceschwankoosk vie lien eee ere: 1851-52 
Reve. Ga Bow iia ee ee 1854-61 
Revi ivi Woltsye oe ee eo ee 186 1—’64 
Reve G Rhoades .2 ee ee ee 1864—’71 
Revi Lite Auberve- eeu bere) ete wore ore ke eer eee 1871-73 
RevervA Bere aes neg 1873-75 
Revie JeNidéekeri wee og ee eee 1875-76 
Revs Res Glares D5 Di ee ee 1876-’81 
Reveal Rurtza es hee te ee ee 1881-’85 
Reval a @Henmiek eter ee eee 1885-91 
Revit Hix kK ro hie ata oe eee ear eee 1891-95 
Revs Ga @eielasskarl! Phe) a6 ee eee 1896-98 
Revel SBoshracdetteine tl soe eee ee eee 1898-01 
Reve Gh WieiDieh ae cere 5k ie cea era en 1902—’08 
Reva GeweHeatticotes Phe lage ome eee 1908—’11 
Revi Has tautierser ee etm eae eee 1911-14 
Rev eT Ba Phonak eee eee 1914-18 
Reviews be sundayveRihe lL) a hee) seen eee 1919—’22 
RéviiG De Geigerae eave Cel es 1922-’24 
Reve Re@ReRickharde 6). shes ee eee 1924 — 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 301 
REV. WILLIAM A. KUMP 
Pastor oF TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. 


William A. Kump, the eldest child of Charles T. Kump and 
Julia Barker Kump, was born at Littlestown, Pa., August 1, 1870. 
He was baptized by the Rev. M. J. Alleman, D. D., pastor of St. 
Paul’s Lutheran Church, Littlestown. His parents removed to 
Hanover, Pa., the birth place of his father, while their first-born 
was yet an infant. Here they identified themselves with the 
recently organized St. Mark’s congregation. In this church he 
was confirmed at the age of thirteen years by the Rev. George 
Scholl, D. D. He attended the public schools of Hanover, and 
during his High School course served an apprenticeship in the 
drug store of Jacob L. Emlet. He pursued his preparatory 
studies at Stephens Hall, and was graduated from Gettysburg 
College with the class of 795. Three years later he was graduated 
from the Gettysburg Theological Seminary. He was ordained 
October 16, 1898, at the meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod 
held in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Hanover. His ordainers 
were the Reverends Henry B. Wile, D. D., President of the West 
Pennsylvania Synod, A. A. Parr, D. D., Albert Bell, D. D., Jesse 
C. Koller, D. D., and Professor E. J. Wolfe, D. D. 

He began his ministry in Christ Lutheran Church, Bridgeton, 
N. J., July 1, 1898. After a pastorate of seven years and a half 
in this congregation he engaged in city mission work in Philadel- 
phia, serving the Parkside congregation for one year. December 
1, 1906, he became pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Mount 
Carmel, Pa., and served this congregation seven years. His 
present pastorate, in Trinity Lutheran Church, Chambersburg, 
Pa., began December 1, 1913. 

On June 14, 1906, the Rev. Mr. Kump was married to Pauline 
W. Hohenstatt of Bridgeton, N. J. To this union two daughters 
have been born,—Pauline W. and Mary Susanna. 

In addition to his pastoral labors Mr. Kump has served as 
Secretary of the East Pennsylvania Synod, President of the 
Cumberland Valley Conference of the West Pennsylvania Synod, 
and was a delegate to the meeting of the General Synod at Atch- 
ison, Kansas, in 1913, and to the conventions of the United 
Lutheran Church held at Washington, D. C., in 1918, and Chicago 
in 1924. He has been closely identified with the movement to 
establish a College for Women, under the auspices of the United 
Lutheran Church, and is the Secretary of the Board of Directors 
of the proposed College. 


B52 History oF WEsT PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 





Rev. H. C. ALLEmMAN, D. D. REv. JOHN HENRY Harms, D. D. 
1891-1896. 1896-1900 
Rev. C. G. WHITE 
1900-1909. 
Rev. F. L. BERGSTRESSER, D.D. ReEv. WILLIAM A. Kump 


1909-1913. 11S 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 333 


TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 


Rev. Witu1amM A. Kump, Pastor 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHAMBERSBURG, PA. 


In the last quarter of the nineteenth century Chambersburg 
experienced a rather remarkable industrial development. The 
establishment of new manufacturing enterprises resulted, natur- 
ally, in a rapid increase in population. Among the newcomers 
were a number of loyal Lutheran families. This was a large factor 
in the founding of the third Lutheran congregation in Chambers- 
burg. Another factor in the establishment of Trinity congrega- 
gation was the vision and judgment of the forward- looking mis- 
sionary pastor of the First Lutheran Church, the Rev. A. Stewart 
Hartman, who gave counsel and encouragement to Philip W. 
Brehm, one of the men of faith, devotion, zeal and generosity, 
who recognized not only the need but, also, the possibilities of a 
Sunday School in the rapidly growing section about the North 
Point. At the suggestion of “Father” Brehm his daughter Miss 
Amy Brehm and Miss Annie Bricker, the daughter of the Rev. 
J. K. Bricker, a retired minister of our church who was living in 
Chambersburg, a canvass was made of the neighborhood. In a 
short time these young ladies had secured the names of seventy 
persons who were ready to organize themselves into a Sunday 
School. The approval and co-operation of the First Lutheran 
congregation was solicited and given, and, with the financial aid 
given the movement by that church, a site was purchased for the 
erection of a building. This site was a lime stone quarry on 
Philadelphia Avenue just above the intersection of Second Street. 
On this site a committee, consisting of P. W. Brehm, C. H. Krum- 
erine and J. A. Hollinger, erected a frame building 24x60 feet at 
a cost of $1200.00. In this building the North End Sabbath 


Bod History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


School Association met for the first time July 6, 1890. The 
following were in charge of the school: Superintendent, Dr. George 
S. Hull; Assistant Superintendent, J. D. Eyster; Treasurer, J. A’ 
Hollinger; Secretary, H. G. Wolf; Organist, Myra Bricker; Chor- 
ister, Daniel Harmony; Primary Superintendent, Mrs. C. H. 
Krumerine; Assistant in Primary Department, Amy Bricker. 
The teachers were Mrs. Theodore Taughenbaugh, C. H. Krum- 
erine, Mrs. J. H. Decker, Mame Embick, Mrs. J. K. Bricker, 
Annie Bricker, George H. Lane, P. W. Brehm, Mrs. P. H. Brehm 
and Grace Bitner. There were eighty-four persons present, 
sixty-eight of whom enrolled as members. The school grew so 
rapidly that within five months it was necessary to enlarge the 
building and an addition of twenty feet was erected at a cost of 
$300.00. | 

The flourishing condition of the school soon developed a 
movement to establish another Lutheran congregation in Cham- 
bersburg. On February 22, 1891, this project was definitely or- 
ganized by the appointment of a committee to confer with the 
Council of the First Church with reference to the matter. Asa 
result of this conference sixty-eight persons were granted letters 
of dismissal from that organization on March 18, 1891, to form 
the new organization: Mrs. Anna Baumgardner, Mrs. Charles 
Bitner, Grace Bitner, P. W. Brehm. Mrs. P. W. Brehm, Amy H. 
Brehm, Fannie H. Brehm, Mrs. Jacob Bricker, Myra Bricker, 
Grace Bricker, James H. Decker, Mrs. J. H. Decker, W. E. Eiker, 
Mrs. W. E. Eiker, John 8S. Embick, Mrs. J. S. Embick, Mame 
Embick, Mrs. Mary Etter, Mrs. William Etter, Charles B. Eyer, 
J: D. Eyster, Mrs. J. D. «EKyster, Mrs. Anna Fyock, Mrs: 
Grier Flack, W. Scott Flack, Mrs. W. S. Flack, Maggie L. 
Flack, Grace. C..iFlacky Lulu*George, J) 2 Gibbs Vie seein 
F. Gibbs, John Harmony, Mrs. John Harmony, D. H. Harmony, 
J. A. Hollinger, Mrs. J. A. Hollinger, Mrs. Anna Horner, George 
S. Hull, MD. Mrs..G: 8. Hull; CharlessS Hull Mire. Gs Seba 
Eva Hull, C. H. Krumerine, Mrs. C. H. Krumerine, Mrs. C. A. 
Lane, George H. Lane, Samuel H. Lane, William A. Lane, Cor- 
nelia Lane, Ida Lehman, Mrs. Eleanor Lutz, Joseph Patterson, 
Mrs. Joseph Patterson, L. D. Patterson, John T. Pensinger, Mrs. 
J. T. Pensinger, Mary Pensinger, Augustus F. Smith, Mrs. A. 
F. Smith, Mrs. Courtney Snyder, Mrs. Annie Speidle, Fred G. 
Shaffer, Mrs. F. G. Shaffer, Mrs. Theodore Taughenbaugh, 
Augustus Wolf, Mrs Augustus Wolf, Harry G. Wolf, Mrs. H. 
G. Wolf. 

At the same meeting the following resolution was adopted: 
“that this congregation assume the payment of $400.00 of the 
principal of the mortgage on the Sunday School building.’’ 

March 31, 1891, the congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church 
was organized, and the following Council chosen: Elders, G. S. 
Hull, M. D., J.S. Embick, P. W. Brehm; Deacons, C. H. Krum- 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE S00 


erine, J. H. Decker, G. H. Lane, John Harmony, J. D. Eyster, 
Aug. Smith; Trustees, C. 8. Hull, W. S. Flack, Aug. Wolf. 

At this meeting the Council invited Rev. Herbert C. Alleman, 
then a teacher in Stephens Hall, Gettysburg, to preach on the 
following Sunday. On the evening of that day, April 5, 1891, a 
c@ll was given him to become pastor of the congregation. The 
call was accepted and Rev. Mr. Alleman began his ministry in 
Trinity congregation July 5, 1891. The following Sunday the 
congregation authorized their new pastor to secure plans for a new 
church building. On August 17 the plans of Architect J. A. 
Dempwolf of York, Pa., were accepted and the Council directed 
to proceed with the construction of the building. 

The corner-stone of the new building, presented by Daniel 
Shull, was laid November 1, 1891. Addresses were made by Rev. 
E. H. Leisenring, pastor of the First Lutheran Church, Rev. H. 
H. Weber, Secretary of the Board of Church Extension, Rev. A. 8. 
Hartman, Secretary of the Board of Home Missions, Rev. M. Ort, 
President of the West Pennsylvania Synod. The dedicatory 
services were held July 38, 1892. The sermon was preached by 
the Rev. B. F. Alleman, D. D., of Lancaster, Pa. Addresses 
were made by Rev. E. H. Leisenring, and Rev. A. 8. Hartman. 
Services were held during the week and sermons were delivered 
by the following: Rev. W. E. Stahler, Shippensburg; Rev. D. W. 
Lentz, Chambersburg; Rev. H. B. Wile, Carlisle and Rev. E. H. 
Delk, of Hagerstown, Md. The cost of the building was approx- 
imately $13,000.00. A loan of $3,000.00 without interest for five 
years Was secured from the Board of Church Extension, and aid 
was received from the Board of Home Missions until December, 
1900. The amount received from the Board for this period was 
$1,333.00. In April, 1892, a lot adjoining the church property on 
the south was purchased at a cost of $800.00. In 1895 the trustees 
negotiated with the town council for the opening of a street on 
the north side, and parallel with the church. ‘This street is now 
one of the most attractive residential sections of the town. 

The earnest, indefatigable pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Alleman 
ended December 1, 1896, when he became pastor of Christ Church, 
Gettysburg. The Rev. John Henry Harms, a member of the 
senior class of the Gettysburg Theological Seminary, was elected 
pastor December 26, 1896, and served until June, 1900, when his 
resignation, to accept a call from St. Paul’s church, Newport, 
Pa., was regretfully accepted. It was during this pastorate that 
the Ladies’ Aid Society was organized—in 1897. Its first officers 
were, Mrs. C. H. Krumerine, President; Mrs. F. L. Budd, Sec- 
retary and Treasurer. 

The third pastor of the congregation was the Rev. Clifton 
G. White, who began his ministry July 9, 1900. Early in his 
pastorate the congregation became self sustaining. The church 
was frescoed and recarpeted in 1908. In 1904 the parsonage was 


336 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


built under the supervision of C. H. Krumerine, J. A. Hollinger, 
William Lochbaum and D. K. Meyers. Under Pastor White’s 
direction the basement of the church was arranged for social 
purposes. These rooms were used for several years by the C. V. 
Rey Vis Goes 

After a pastorate of almost nine years Rev. C. G. White 
resigned and was succeeded March 28, 1909, by the Rev. F. L. 
Bergstresser, D. D., who served until December 1, 1913. During 
Dr. Bergstresser’s pastorate the pipe organ was bought; an in- 
dividual communion set was presented by Elder George W. 
Etter, Sr., as a memorial to his wife, and Robert E. Garns, son 
of J. J. Garns for ten years superintendent of the Sunday School, 
offered himself as a student for the ministry. This splendid young 
man, having completed his college course, was stricken by illness 
and died on the very threshold of his ministry, while in the senior 
year of his theological studies, in 1916. 

December 1, 1913, Rev. William A. Kump, who was called 
from Grace Lutheran Church, Mount Carmel, Pa., became pastor 
of Trinity church. Inspired by the noble generosity of Mrs. 
Michael Reed, who bequeathed $400.00 to the church, the con- 
eregation undertook to liquidate its entire indebtedness of $1900.00 
at Easter, 1914. The amount received in free will offerings was 
$2100.00. On July 5, of the same year—the twenty-fourth anni- 
versary of the North End Sunday School—the mortgages were 
burned, the following members of the original Church Council 
participating in the service: Rev. H. C. Alleman, D. D., P. W. 
Brehm, J. 8. Embick, J. H. Decker, John Harmony, J. D. Eyster, 
W.S. Flack and Augustus Wolf. At that service, as an express- 
sion of joy and. gratitude, a New Church Building Fund was 
begun. By the sacrificial zeal of the Sunday School classes and 
the generosity of the members of the congregation, which find 
expression annually in a free will Easter offering, the fund now 
amounts to $17,000.00. 

In 1915 the silver anniversary of the Sunday School was 
fittingly observed. 

The present membership of the congregation is 370. The 
enrollment of the Sunday School is 410. The estimated value 
of the church property, including the New Building Fund is 
$47,000.00, with no indebtedness. | 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE Apts 


THE CENTREVILEE LUTHERAN CHURCH 
(Dickinson Charge) 
REV aEeeN SRY PASTOR 


So called because it is situated in Centreville, a village which 
derives its name from the fact that it is about half-way between 
Carlisle and Shippensburg on the Walnut Bottom Road. The 
Post Office of this place has the designation of Dickinson. 

In the Deed Book, EE. P. 21., 1819, Carlisle, Pa., is recorded 
the following: 

“Deed: Samuel Beetem and Mary his wife to Wm. Free, 
ete., Wardens of the German Lutheran and German Presbyterian 
Church, called ‘Beetem Church’ in Dickinson Township, Cumb. 
Co., Pa. 18 August 1819.’ This deed was for 121 perches of 
land, committed to the Trustees of the Church for the nominal 
sum of one dollar. 

In 1802 Samuel Beetem (of English descent) and Mary his 
wife and their four children moved into Cumberland County. 
He was then thirty-five years of age. After six years of residence 
in Frankford Township he removed to what is now known as 
Penn Township and settled in what is today called Centreville. 
He became a prominent member of the Church which he is cred- 
ited with founding. In the center of the plot of land above desig- 
nated, ‘‘a short distance back from the road, stood the Church, 
which was but a crude affair built of logs hauled from the moun- 
tain. From these logs the bark was removed and the exterior 
of the building whitewashed, while the interior was plastered in 
the usual way. This building served the congregation for many 
years.”’” We are indebted to Mr. Gilbert Beetem, Historian of 
the Beetem Familv, for much of the above information, and some 
also, which is to follow. 

From this period of time on to the construction of the second 
church structure in 1852, very little is known; the ancient records 
being either lost or destroyed. Among the recorded pastors from 
the time of the organization of the Church until the period of the 
new edifice were D. P. Rosenmuller, John Rosenberg, and Chris- 
tian Kunkle; whether these were all of them we know not. 

The latest record book we have dates from the year 1849 
when Rev. Charles Klink was pastor. This earliest record shows 
104 communicants of the Holy Supper on April 28, 1849 and 135 
for September, 1849. The first minutes of the ‘Vestry”’ recorded 
in this book contains the following interesting resolution: ‘“‘Resolv- 
ed, That all persons, who wish in the future to inter their dead 
in the grave yard of this Church be charged one dollar for each 
interment, except exempted from it by the Vestry.” There is 
no record of the transactions in connection with the erecting of 
the new edifice, which was constructed in 1852. However, the 


338 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


following is of interest in this connection: “It was resolved that 
Bro. Henry have a fence made between Bro. John Beetem and the 
Church, and also a gate.” This was under date of April, 1850. 
Also, the following: ‘Resolved, that Father Auld and the Pastor 
be appointed a Committee to attend to having the Church in- 
corporated. Resolved, that the old Church be taken down, and 
disposed of to the best advantage, provided the members of the 
Congregation second the Church Council in it, and make them- 
selves amenable with them for all damages.’’ Under heading of 
August 20th, 1853: “Resolved, that the old church be offered at 
public sale on the 10th day of September next, and that the highest 
bidder shall be considered the purchaser.” This ends the history 
of the old log church erected in 1819, and which was allowed to 
stand a few years after the new structure was erected. 

Another insight to the times is gotten from a note which 
states that in 1851 Rev. Klink was paid $250 as his salary for the 
vear. After a small list of five subscribers to this sum the record 
has it: ‘“‘and 2.50 not subscribed. Making in all for the present 
vear $250.00 including the subscription of Father Creglow.”’ 

The records now become vague. It seems that a Rev. 8. 8. 
Link was pastor of the church in 1853; how long a period of time 
his pastorate covered we do not know. Rev. J. Welfley became 
Pastor on the first of March, 1856; the time of his resignation is 
also not recorded. Rev. A. Babb became the Shepherd of the flock 
on September 25, 1856. There is an item of note recorded in the 
very brief minutes of his pastorate: “evi Smith resigned on Oc- 
tober, 1861, having paid up and settled up his Deacon’s book of 
pew rents like a gentleman and a Christian.—Pastor.”’ 

Rev. A. L. Guss took charge on June 10, 1861; Rev. M. G. 
Earhart on May 26, 1866; Rev. C. L. Keedy on March 16, 1869. 
During Rev. Guss’ pastorate 165 are recorded as being members. 
From the first Sunday in January, 1862, to May 26, 1866, Stoughs- 
town’s books record that Rev. V. G. Goettman and Rev. Stephen 
Owen served their Church. Centreville does not make reference 
to Rev. Owen at all. However, in “The History of Cumberland 
and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Illustrated, 1886,” reference 
is made to Rev. S. W. Owen as a Pastor of Centreville at this 
general period. A.C. Felker took charge at Centreville on Oc- 
tober 1, 1871. 

These last two ministers named, Revs. C. L. Keedy and A. 
C. Felker, are not named as Stoughstown’s pastors. No doubt 
this was one of the general periods of time when there was but a 
loose association between these two churches which were originally 
one charge when Rev. Klink organized Stoughstown on February 
14, 1846. It will be interesting at this point to mention also the 
fact that Rev. Charles Klink, spoken of formerly as the builder 
of the second Centreville edifice and the founder of the Stoughs- 
town congregation, on June 24th, 1849, also organized the Mount 


CUMBERLAND. VALLEY CONFERENCE 339 


Hope Church, the records of which Church seem to cease in the 
year 1866, under the pastorate of Rev. M. G. Earhart. 

Early in 1873 Rev. J. Deitrich became Pastor. 80 members 
were added to the roll under him; his salary, also, was $800. How- 
ever, his list of members ‘hows but 122 instead of 165 in 1861. 

On May 27, 1877, Rev. David Swope became Pastor; and Rev. 
C. E. Keller on August 31, 1884. Rev. J. E. Lerch was here from 
1884 to the fall of 1885, and on July 11, 1886, Rev. W. H. Jordy 
became the minister; he resigned on March 6, 1887, and was fol- 
lowed by Rev. J. Kistler, who began his labors on June 15, 1887, 
but resigned the following year, on July 15, 1888 He was fol- 
lowed in turn by the Rev. 8. E. Herring, who on August 1, 1888, 
became minister, and he also remained but a short time, to re- 
sign on September 1, 1889. 

Rev. Cyrus Focht became the minister at Centreville on 
July 1, 1890; he fell asleep in Jesus September 17, 1893. Rev. 
S. J. Ulrich then became the pastor on August 11, 1894, and Rev. 
J. P. Buchner on May 17, 1896. He also died on the field, March 
17, 1898. However, during his pastorate mention 1s made of 
the fact that as the result of special evangelistic services from 
December 20, 1896, to January 138, 1897, 80 souls were brought 
into the kingdom. The membership now is 193. 

Rev. H. W. Bender now takes charge on June 1, 1898, and 
continues his labors until July 1, 1901. Upon his resignation 
Rev. J. H. Fetterolf became the minister in charge on October 
22, 1901, who continued in that capacity until December 22, 
1905. The next pastor, Rev. H. E. Zimmerman, was here but 
a short time, from February 1, 1905, until November 30, 1906. 

The pastorate of Rev. R. S. Stair began on the Ist day of 
October, 1907. It was during his presence on the field that the 
present church structure was completed in 1908. It was at first 
proposed to build the new building on the site of the old grave 
yard, immediately adjacent to the Walnut Bottom Road, and 
immediately a discussion began which threatened to break up 
the congregation. When it was found that it would devolve upon 
the church to pay for the removal of all bodies not cared for by 
the relatives of the dead it was decided to build the church upon 
its present site, which was the place of the old structure erected in 
1852, the foundations of which were fast becoming unsafe. The new 
edifice was dedicated free from debt. Beginning on February 1, 
1914, Rev. Stair conducted services during which there were 89 
conversions; during his pastorate 157 members were added to 
the Church roll. 

Rey. 8. A. Garnes became Paster on May 1, 1915. During 
community revival services and as a result of them he added 36 
to the church on June 12, 1921. It was through his influence 
that there was collected a sum of money as an endowment, for 
keeping the old burial ground in order, which had been for some 


340 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


years neglected. The congregation and friends contributed liber- 
ally for this cause. Today this graveyard, one of the oldest in 
this section, 1s kept in perfect order. Rev. Garnes died in the 
parsonage on November 30, 1922. 

Rey. John Henry Lehn took charge here on the 15th of May, 
1923. During his period of time as minister there was organized 
a weekly prayer meeting and a Junior C. E. Society; contributions 
also were increased at least 50%. He resigned October 12, 1924, 
to take effect November the first. 

The community is much overchurched; while statistics show 
that during the last 20 years Penn Township, our location, has 
lost annually an average of 10 in population. 

Rev. E. N. Fry has accepted a call to the Dickinson Charge. 


THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH 
OF STOUGHSTOWN 


. (DICKINSON CHARGE) 
Rev. EK. No. ERY Pastor 





ZION S LUTHERAN CHURCH, STOUGHSTOWN, PA. 


The above is the original title of the Church at the date of 
its organization, February 14, 1846. It was incorporate d April 
12, 1852, under the following title: ‘‘Zion’s Independent English 
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Newton Township.” 

It is situated in the little village of Stoughstown, ‘‘on the 
turnpike in the eastern portion of the township,” which town was 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 341 


named “after Col. John Stough, who kept a tavern there for many 
years.’’ 

The Church was organized with the following charter mem- 
bers * William Muck, Henry Leidigh, John W. Duy, John Radick, 
John Higlands, Adam Soubarger, John P. Brown, Moses Cope, 
Elizabeth Muller, Martha Leidigh, Elizabeth Cline. Catherine 
Fought, Mary Higlands, Margerat Pisle, Elzabeth Brown, 
and George Stigleman. 

These members represent originally various denominations. 
Differences in doctrine were not emphasized much then; a promi- 
nent citizen, George Allen, a Presbyterian, the first year paid off 
the indebtedness upon the church property. 

The Preamble of their Constitution drawn up at the time of 
organization or thereabout is very interesting: ‘‘We, whose names 
are hereunto attached, being in and about Stoughstown, Cum- 
berland County, State of Pennsylvania, desiring to promote the 
glory of God, and to secure the salvation of ourselves, our children, 
and our neighbors: and believing that the Bible is the word of 
God, and only infallzble rule of faith and practice; and also believ- 
ing the doctrines of God’s Word are purely taught, and its or- 
dinances are properly administered in the Ev. Lutheran Church 
in these United States, as represented in its General Synod, do 
hereby form ourselves into an Evangelical Lutheran Congrega- 
PAGiOle ens 

It seems that at first Stoughstown and Centreville formed 
one Charge, of which Rev. C. M. Klink was the first Pastor. How- 
ever, the old records state: “In the Spring of 1855 the Stoughs- 
town Congregation separated by mutual consent from the Cen- 
terville Congregation, chiefly in order to obtain forenoon preach- 
ing by forming a new charge and supporting a pastor themselves. 
A call was extended to Rev. T. T. Titus which was accepted and 
in June he located in Stoughstown as Pastor of the Lutheran 
Congregation, at a salary of $500 per annum to be paid quarterly. 
Preaching to be had at Stoughstown every Sabbath morning and 
at Canada (now Jacksonville) and Oakville alternately in the 
afternoon.” 

The separation did not long continue, for under the heading 
of minutes for March 1, 1856, the following resolution was passed 
by Council: “Resolved that we as a congregation are willing to 
unite with the Centerville Charge upon the following conditions: 
Centerville is to furnish us with preaching every two weeks, half 
of which to be in the forenoon and we are to pay a reasonable 
proportion of the salary, taking Rev. J. Welfley as our Pastor for 
the coming year. The Council to arrange the proportion of sal- 
ary to be paid...” 

Though a definite record has not been kept it seems as though 
on at least several occasions there was a dissolving of the bonds 
which associated the two churches in one pastorate. or instance, 


342 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Centerville’s minutes for September 11, 1870, record a dissolution 
of the charge. No mention is made of the subsequent uniting, 
which came shortly. 

The infant church prospered under the care of Rev. C: M. 
Klink, her first pastor. There were 16 charter members at the 
time of the organization. In 1852, eight years after, there were 
34 communicants; this was at the time of the application for in- 
corporation. 

The paucity of minutes in the early records may be explained 
in part by the half humorous note under the date of June 30, 
1855: “‘It was ordered that hereafter the Pastor keep the Church 
Book and act as Secretary of the Council.’’ The book testifies to 
Rey. Titus’ faithfulness; which same cannot be said of the former 
unknown Secretary, who has neglected to record when the pas- 
torate of Rev. Charles Klink came to an end and when Rev. 8. 
S. Link began and ended his official relations with them; all we 
now know is that Brother Link was their pastor during the year 
1853. 

Rev. Titus’ stay at Stoughstown was of brief duration; a 
period of but about seven months, up to the time of the election 
of Rev. A. Babb on September 25, 1856. On November 14, 1858, 
this brother records, in connection with the Holy Communion of 
that season that: ‘““The meeting was protracted, and it pleased the 
Lord graciously to revive His work.” The membership at. this 
time was increased to 47. 

Rev. 8. L. Guss became pastor on June 10, 1861. 

Rev. V. G. Goettman became pastor on the first Sabbath of 
January, 1862. 

At this period the records show that the membership had 
declined to 26. 

Upon the first Sabbath (the word “Sabbath” being the word 
used in the original records) of July, 1864, Rev. Stephen W. Owen 
became pastor at Stoughstown. 

During the pastorate of Rev. M. G. Earhart, which began 
on May 26, 1866, 37 members are recorded on the roll. 

At this point there is another lacuna in the records and we 
assume from the records of the sister Church of Centerville that 
the Rev. C. L. Keedy and A. C. Felker ministered from March 
16, 1869, until the accession of Rev. J. F. Dietrich on July 3, 
1875; and all the succeeding pastors were the same as listed for 
the Centerville Church. 

During the labors of Rev. R. 8. Stair in Stoughstown, who 
began his work on October 1, 1907, extensive repairs were made 
to the church edifice. Rev. S. A. Garnes took charge of the Church 
in his official relation on May 1, 1915, and as our records show, 
he is the third Pastor to have died on the field. He fell asleep 
on November 30, 1922. 

At various times there were organized prayer meetings and 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 343 


young people’s societies on the field, but of late years the popu- 
lation has decreased to such an extent, with a corresponding de- 
cline in membership, as to make this impracticable, seemingly. 

Rev. John Henry Lehn began his labors here on the 15th day 
of May, 1923, and resigned November 2, 1924. During his pres- 
ence in their midst he noted a deepening of the religious life of 
the Church and a large increase in contributions. The apportion- 
ment this year has been overpaid and Zion Lutheran, Stoughs- 
town, is on the Honor Roll for 1924. 


REV. M. 8. SHARP 
PasToR OF ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, ENOLA, Baa 


Brickerville, Lancaster Co., Pa., 
was the birth place of the subject 
of this brief sketch. His early 
education was gained in the pub- 
lic school of his rural district. 
Later he entered Stephens Hall 
(as Gettysburg Academy was 
then called), and pursued a course 
of study that fitted him to be- 
come a member of the class in 
Gettysburg College that was 
eraduated in the spring of 1902. 
Continuing his studies in the 
Gettysburg TheologicalSeminary, 
he completed his course and was 
graduated in the spring of 1905. 
His first charge was that of St. 
Paul’s Lutheran Church of Funks- 
town, Md., where he labored for 7 
two years, from 1905 to 1907. He then accepted an invitation to 
become pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church of Martinsburg, 
Pa., serving this pastorate from 1907 to 191C. On March 26th, 
1911, he was installed as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church of — 
Enola, Pa., which charge he has served until the present time. 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, ENOLA, PENNSYLVANIA 


Rev. M. S. SHarp, PAsTor 
Zion Lutheran Congregation was organized in 1804, one 
hundred and twenty-one years ago. The congregation first wor- 
shipped in a school house built of logs; it was called “Lantz’s 


344 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


School House,” because a number of families by that name re- 
sided in this vicinity. 

This congregation Was one of five or six appointments com- 
prising a charge for one minister, known as the Cumberland 
County charge. The present church building, now known as 
“The Old Brick Church,” was erected in 1834. Rev. Augustus 
Lochman, who was pastor of the Harrisburg charge, which was 
then composed of Zion, Harrisburg, Shoop’s and Wenrick’s in the 
country, and Middletown, also served Zion Lutheran; and during 
his ministry Zion Lutheran Church at this place was erected in 
1834. From 1836 to 1867 the following ministers served this 
Church: Revs. Height, Bub, Fritze, Staver, Utman, Dutt, Dasher, 
Irwine, Tresler, Lingle, Herring, McHenry, Seidel, Felty, Nicolas, 
and Dasher. 

Zion, or ‘Old Brick Church,” is the Mother of St. Mark’s in 
West Fairview; and in 1867 Rev. 8. Dasher served the charge 
composed of Zion, St. Mark’s in West Fairview, St. Paul’s, or 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, ENo.A, Pa. 


Stone Church along the State Road, New Market near New Cum- 
berland. During Rev. W. A. Wolgamuth’s pastorate, Zion Con- 
eregation withdrew from the West Fairview charge, and became 
self-supporting. 

The old church welcomed to this part of the county the large 
classification yards of the P. R. R. Co. The P. R. R. Co. built 
about a hundred houses, laid about ten or twelve miles of pave- 
ments and started the town ‘‘Enola.”’ 

The name originated from a little Railroad Station called 
“Alone,” which was located on the West Shore of the Susquehanna 


River. The name “Alone” was reversed which gave it the name 
CH ] ) 
nola. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 345 


At the present time ‘‘Old Zion,” instead of being the “‘Alone,”’ 
country church, is in the center of a town of three thousand in- 
habitants. 

The old church has a very bright future due to the industrial 
prosperity in the rapidly growing community. The congregation 
is planning to erect a new church and Sunday School chapel within 
a year or two. The congregation built a new parsonage on Al- 
toona Avenue. The parsonage is a large ten room brick house, 
prominently located along the concrete avenue known as the 
“Enola Drive.”? The new church will be built next to the par- 
sonage. 

Rev. M.S. Sharp, who is the present pastor, has been serving 
this Congregation since 1910. 


REV RAGPRHSWeaaisINID 
PASTOR OF THE FAYETTEVILLE CHARGE 


Ralph W. Lind was born on 
the 7th of November, 1897, at 
Altoona, Pa. His father, Charles 
L., was born in Sweden. His 
mother, Mary Hopple Lind, was 
from Lewistown, Pa. In 1912 he 
was confirmed in the First Luther- 
an Church of Altoona, Pa., by the 
Rev. Marion Justus Kline, D. D. 
The first intimations that caused 
him to seriously consider the 
Gospel ministry as a life’s calling 
were given him by his pastor, 
Dr. Kline. 

In 1917 he graduated from the 
Altoona High School and from 
Gettysburg College in 1921 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 
and in 1924 from The Lutheran 
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg with the degree of Bachelor 
of Divinity. 

At the convention of the Allegheny Synod in October in 1923, 
at Dubois, Pa., he was licensed and ordained by the same Synod 
at Clearfield, Pa., in May, 1924. 

In December, 1923, he received and accepted a call to the 
Fayetteville Charge and assumed his regular service as pastor on 
June 1, 1924. 





346 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENVILLAGEH, PA. 


(Fayetteville Charge) 


Rev. Rapuy W. Linp, Pastor 


ST. JOHN’s LUTHERAN CHURCH 
GREENVILLAGE, PA. 





The Evangelical Luther- 
an Congregation of Green- 
village, Pa., was organized 
in November, 1836, in the 
old White Church that 
stood where the Methodist 
Church now stands. 

Rev. Nicholas J. Stroh, 
who was then pastor of the 
Shippensburg Congrega- 
tion, continued serving the 
congregation till the fall of 
1839, being pastor about 
three years. 

Between the years 1840: 
and 1845 the services were 
held in the Stone Church—, 
Covenanter Church, Scot- 
land, by. Rev: M*SsKun= 
kel. In the latter part of 
1845 and 1846, Rev. Levi 
Williams, assisted by his 
brother, Rev. J. G. Williams, 
pastor of the Shippenburg 
Congregation, held a re- 
vival of religion in the old 
White Church at which 
time a great many pro- 
fessed and joined the church. 

It was now thought ad- 
visable to build a Lutheran 
Church. At ameeting held 


at Greenvillage, February 23, 1846, for the purpose of considering 
the propriety and expediency of building a Lutheran Church in 
Greenvillage, the following resolution was adopted: 

“Resolved, that a committee of five be appointed by this 
meeting to ascertain what a Church of a convenient and proper 
size in their estimation and opinion will cost to build. 

“And if in the committee’s opinion, they are by this meeting 
empowered to proceed and build a church in Greenvillage.”’ 

In August, 1846, the cornerstone of the church was laid with 
appropriate services held in William Immell’s grove adjacent. 

On the eighth day of May, 1847, the Evangelical Lutheran 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 347 


Church was dedicated to Almighty God. Rev. Williams closed 
his pastorate in 1849. Rev. Augustus C. Widekind, who served 
one year, was succeeded by Rev. David H. Focht; he served three 
vears. 

In 18538 the Rev. Jacob Steck proposed that the Greenvillage 
charge become part of Shippensburg charge. Rev. Steck served 
two years, and was followed by Rev. John Ulrich who remained 
three and a half years. In 1859 Rev. L. A. Gotwald began his 
ministry of three and a half years, followed by Rev. C. L. Ehren- 
feld. After a ministry of two vears he was succeeded, in 1865, 
by Rev. G. H. Beckly, who served three years. 

In the fall of 1868, Rev. T. C. Billheimer began his pastorate 
of five years; and in 1874 Dr. B. F. Alleman became pastor and 
served thirteen years. The congregation withdrew from the Ship- 
pensburg Congregation. 

Rev. J. A. Hartman, of St. Thomas congregation, then sup- 
plied this church for a period of four years. 

In 1891, Rev. D. 8. Lentz became pastor. He thought ad- 
visable to have a preaching point at Scotland. It was not long 
till they planned for a church and by so doing they relieved the 
Greenvillage Congregation of half or more of its members. At 
this time Greenvillage was made a part of the Fayetteville Charge. 

In 1894 Rev. C. L. Ritter became pastor; he remained two 
years and was succeeded by Rev. W. C. Heffner, who served six 
months. Rev. Forscht followed and served the charge two vears, 
followed by Rev. Reese who served nine years. Rev. R. L. 
Markly followed who served two years or more, and was succeeded 
by Rev. C. 8. Simmonton who served three years or more. The 
church prospered under his ministry. In 1922 the church was 
painted, walls frescoed, new pews and new pulpit furniture, 
electric light fixtures and vestibule added, new carpet laid and 
heating plant installed. 

Rev. Ralph W. Lind has been serving the charge as pastor 
since June Ist, 1924. 


348 History oF West PENNSYTVANIA SYNOD 


ST LUKE SYEULTHERAN GCHURCHA SCO DEAN Das 
(Fayetteville Charge) 
Rev. Raupu W. Linp, PAsTor 


In the year 1893, the 
Lutheran people of Scot- 
land, Pa., met and held ser- 
vice in the Old Stone 
Church, known then as the 
Covenanter Church of Scot- 
land, built in the vear, 1823. 
It was then an unorganized 
body of worshippers, with 
Rev. D. 8. Lentz, pastor to 
April 29, 1894. In May, 
1894, it became an organ- 
ized body with these. char- 
ter members: 

Mr. and Mrs. Geo. G. 
Markward, Miss Florance 
Markward, Mr. and Mrs. 
A. H.. Etter, Miss Belle 
Etter)).Mirs. WleeCGrain 
Mr. and Mrs. John . Ott, 
Mr. H. W. Ott, Miss Rose 
Eisenhour, Miss Lizzie Et- 
ter, Mr. David A. Hale, Mr. 
and Mrs. B. F. Eyer, Miss 
Anna Eyer, Mr. and Mrs. 
John A. Heefner, Mrs. Ly- 
dia Grace, Mrs. John D. 

St. Luxe’s LuTHERAN CHURCH Oliver, Mrs. Samuel Monn, 

SCOTLAND, Pa. Mrs. Martha Hock, Mr. and 

Mrs. William Reeder, Miss 

Abbie Reeder, Mrs. John Kurtz, Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Ott, Mr. 
and Mrs. H. F. Craig. 

Rev. C. L. Ritter was elected pastor July 8, 1894; he served 
until June 7, 1896. About July, 1895, the members purchased a 
lot of ground in Scotland from Mr. Benjamin Hege, to erect a 
new cburch thereon. The ground was broken July 24, 1895, with 
these Ministers present: Revs. Leisenring and Kroh, of Cham- 
bersburg, Pa.; Rev. Romig of New Franklin, Pa.; Rev. Mumpher 
of Greenvillage, Pa.; Rev. C. L. Ritter, of Fayetteville, Pa. 

The corner-stone was laid September 22, 1895; and the church 
building was completed December, 1895. First service was held 
in the new church by Rev. Geo. Henry of Shippensburg, Pa., 
December 14, 1895. 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 349 


The church was dedicated to God, December 15, 1895, by 
Rev. H. H. Weber, of York, Pa. Rev. Billheimer held service in 
the evening. Rev. W. C. Hefner was pastor from November, 
1896, to October 26, 1902. Rev. A. C. Forscht was pastor from 
January 25, 1903, to October 16, 1904. 

The church was remodeled in the fall of 1903; rededicated 
October 18, 1903, by Rev. A. R. Steck, D. D., of York, Pa. 

Rev. J. W. Reese was pastor from January 8, 1905, to October 
1, 1914; Rev. Raymond Law Markley from March 7, 1915, to 
November 18, 1917; Rev. Chester Stewart Simonton from June 
8, 1919, to February 1, 1923; and the present pastor is Rev. 
Ralph W. Lind, who began his service, June 1, 1924. The Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Sunday School of Scotland, Pa., was organized 
February 3, 1895. 


ml. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH FAYETTEVILLE, PA. 
(Fayetteville Charge) 


Rey. Raupu W. Linp, Pastor 








St. Paut’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, FAYETTEVILLE, Pa. 


The congregation of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Favyette- 
ville, Pa., was organized some time prior to 1839, as during that 
year, subscription was started, and land was bought, on which was 
erected, in the year 1840, the First Lutheran Church in Fayette- 
ville. 


350 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The congregation formed a part of what at that time was 
called the Grindstone Hill Charge, which consisted of the four 
congregations located at Fayetteville, Grindstone Hill, Marion 
and St. Thomas. These four congregations formed a charge until 
the pastorate of Rev. Shertz, during which time St. Thomas 
withdrew from the charge. The remaining three continued to 
form the Grindstone Hill charge until the pastorate of Rev. D.S. 
Lentz, at which time Fayetteville with Scotland and Greenvillage 
formed what has since been known as the Fayetteville charge. 

Since the organization of the Fayetteville Congregation up, 
to and including the present one, the congregation has been served 
by seventeen pastors. 

For the early pastorates we cannot give dates, but following 
is a list of the pastors in the order of their service: Revs. Gilson, 
Kunkle, Williams, Foucht, Sill,and McHenry, who served the charge 
during the dark days of the Civil War. He was followed by Revs. 
J. K. Miller, A. C. Felker, and A. H. Shertz. Rev. Shertz took 
charge in the spring of 1872 and served the charge for 14 vears 
during which time, or in 1882, the old or first Lutheran Church of 
Fayetteville was replaced by the present brick church or main 
auditorium 36x60 ft. 

Rev. Shertz was followed in 1886 by Rev. D. 8. Lentz, who 
served the congregation for seven years and was the first pastor 
of the charge as at present constituted. 

Following Rev. Lentz was Rev. C. L. Ritter, under whose 
pastorate the Chapel annex, 22x80, was built. Rev. Ritter re- 
signed in 1896 and was followed by Rev. W. C. Heffner, who 
served the charge until 1902. He was followed by Rev. A. C. 
Forscht, under whose pastorate the interior of the church was 
beautified by the removal of the old pews and replacing them with 
crescent chaped pews and also a new carpet. 

Rev. J. W. Reese came next, who served the congregation 
about nine years, or was second on length of service to Rev. 
Shertz. 

Next in line was Rev. R. L. Markley, who resigned in 1917 
to enter the World War as a Chaplain. Then followed Rey. 
Chester 8S. Simonton, who resigned in February, 1923. The 
charge was vacant until June, 1924, during which time the inter- 
ior of the church was beautified by being neatly frescoed, by the 
placing of a hard wood raised floor, new carpets and other im- 
provements which gives to it an attractive appearance. 

Our present pastor is Rev. Ralph W. Lind who took charge 
June 1, 1924, he being the third one in succession from the First 
Lutheran Church of Altoona, Pa. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE stall 


REV2 He Ba BURKHOBD ER, 
PASTOR OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENCASTLE, Pa. 


Harry Benton Burkholder, Greencastle, Pa., son of William 
R. and Laura A. Burkholder, was born at Marion, Franklin Co., 
Pa., October 10, 1876. When but six years of age he lost both 
parents by death. He was reared in the home of an uncle and 
aunt, Mr. and Mrs. David 8S. Stouffer, Mercersburg, Pa. On 
April 17, 1892, he was confirmed in St. John’s Lutheran Church, 
Mercersburg, by Rev. L. A. Mann, D. D. After graduating from 
the Mercersburg High School he served for two terms in the ca- 
pacity of a rural school teacher in his native county. 

The winter of 1898-1899 was spent as a student in the Mer- 
cersburg Academy. In the fall of 1899 he entered Gettysburg 
College and graduated in the A. B. course with the class of 1903. 
Going to Springfield, O., in September, 1903, he entered the Ham- 
ma Divinity School where he completed his theological course in 
the spring of 1906, with the B. D. degree. 

He was licensed by the Wittenberg Synod in the First Luth- 
eran Church of Leipsic, O., October 15, 1905, and received ordina- 
tion from the same Synod in the First Lutheran Church of Findlay, 
O., October 14, 1906. 

The vacation months of 1905—May to September—were 
spent in Mansfield, O., conducting services and doing canvassing 
and such other preliminary work as was necessary for the organi- 
zation of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. St. Mark’s has since 
grown into a strong church. 

Upon graduation from the Hamma Divinity School Rev. 
Burkholder became pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of 
Belleville, O., serving that congregation until the fall of 1907, 
when he resigned in order to accept a call to the newly-organized 
Grace Lutheran Mission of Dayton, Ohio. For four years he 
served this mission, starting with a membership of 33 and closing 
the work in September, 1911, with a membership of 101. During 
this pastorate a splendid lot was purchased at a cost of $3250 
and a building fund well started. 

On September 15, 1911, he became pastor of Trinity Lutheran 
Church, Berlin, Pa., and continued work in this pastorate until 
November 1, 1918. During these seven years about 240 members 
were received, various improvements in the way of painting, 
frescoing, recarpeting, etc., were made, and an addition built to 
the Sunday School room. 

The work of the Greencastle pastorate was begun on Novem- 
ber 1, 1918, and continues at the time this sketch is written, 
March 1, 1924. During these five years 262 members have been 
received, and, in addition to necessary repairs to church property, 
an adjoining lot was purchased at a cost of $3250. 


B52 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


At the home of the bride, Springfield, O., on April 28, 1908, 
Rev. Burkholder was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Es- 
telle McDowell, the ceremony being performed by the bride’s 
father, Rev. Samuel J. McDowell, D. D., then Field Secretary of 
the Home Mission Board, assisted by Rev. E. H. Dornblaser, 
D. D., pastor of the bride. To this union two children were 
born—Harry, June 22, 1909, and Dorothy, November 24, 1911. 





THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH; GREEN- 
CASTUH PAI 


Rev. H. B. BurKHOLDER, PASTOR 


The books containing the earlier records have been lost, 
therefore we have no definite source from which to draw a full 
and accurate sketch of the work and growth of this congregation. 
In an old church council minute book, under date of October 5, 
1850, we find the following item: “The old church records being 
amongst the missing, Messrs. Fuss, Walter and Palmer were 
appointed a committee to hunt it up.” On November 2 this 
committee reported that they “had searched every place where it 
was thought that the church book might be, but that it could not 
be found.”’ The pastor was then instructed to “keep a record on 
a few sheets of paper until it is ascertained whether the old church 
book can be found or not.’ These items account for the fact 
that the record books in possession of the congregation at the 
present time date back only to the vear 1850. 

Though there are no known records from which it can be 
ascertained definitely when the organization in Greencastle was 
formed, yet, “according to traditional accounts it was as early 
as 1775, or earlier.” Rev. John George Young ‘‘came to America 
from Germany and located in Hagerstown, serving as pastor of 
the Lutheran Church there from 1770 to 1783.’ While laboring 
there “he made frequent tours through this county, preaching 
the Word, administering the Communion, baptizing children and 
visiting in the homes of those who had come over from the father- 
land.’ It is altogether probable that he effected an organization 
of the Lutherans in this community during those early years, 
but 1t cannot be shown definitely. However, it is known that 
prior to the erection of their first church building ‘‘the Lutheran 
Church of this town had no place which they could call their own, 
but in connection with the German Reformed congregation used 
a union structure called the ‘Old Log Church.’”’ The fact that 
in the year 1792 the organization was sufficiently strong to under- 
take the erection of a house of worship would indicate that it had 
been in existence for some time prior to this date, but just how 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE S00 


long prior will likely remain unknown. And likewise, just how 
long the Lutheran and Reformed people worshipped together in 
the “Olid Log Church,” before erecting their own building, is 
unknown. 

“The earliest extant record is a copy of the German paper 
deposited in the corner-stone of the old church, bearing the date 
September 13, 1792. When the old building was removed in 
1875 this paper was secured and the following translation made: 

“We the undersigned Elders and Deacons, in connection with 
the members of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in and 
around Greencastle, have resolved in the name of God to build 
a house or church, in which the holy, unchangeable and prophetic 
Word of God shall be taught according as it is set forth in the 
Augsburg Confession, in the Smalcald “Articles, and the Larger 
and Smaller Catechisms of Luther. Further, it is hereby forever 
unalterably fixed that no preacher who does not hold to the regu- 
lation of our Evangelical Lutheran Church, and is not a member of 
our Ministerium, shall have permission to preach in this our church. 
It shall however be allowed to any ordained minister to preach 
according to his system of faith at funeral services, and on other 
occasions When the regular called pastor is not present, or at 
other times if the congregation approve. To this our established 
rule we bind ourselves as a congregation, and affix our names 
hereto. It is required also that a copy of these articles be pre- 
served on file by the elders of this congregation, and as we this 
day lay the corner-stone of this necessary and highly useful work, 
so shall also the beginning thereof be made with prayer and sup- 
plication to God, who, although he says Heaven is my throne 
and earth my footstool, what house will ye build me, yet Christ 
Jesus gives the assurance that where two or three are gathered 
together in his name, there will he be in the midst of them—that 
is, by his saving grace, his Word and divine guidance.” 

Affixed to this paper were the following names, and in several 
cases there were two or more of the same name, twenty names in 
all: Nye, Bayer, Saylor, Basehore, Hoflich, Gerard, Hock!lander, 
Simon, Brundlinger, Zimmerman, Schaffner, Clapsaddle, Wagner, 
Peifer and Maun. 

The corner-stone of the first church building was laid on Sep- 
tember 13, 1792, and the building dedicated April 2, 1798. It was 
used as originally built until the year 1836, when, on February 
13 “it was unanimously agreed to proceed immediately to repair 
as follows: Then is given a rather minute statement of the 
changes to be made, including “twenty feet to be added to the 
back part of the house with new work inside,” the placing of doors, 
windows, pews, aisles, partition, and a gallery on three sides. 
This same building was remodeled again in 1857 

“By ordinance, in the year 1812, new names were given to 
the streets’ of the town, and this fixed the location of the lot and 


304 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


building on the northwest corner of Washington and Madison 
Sts. The lot upon which the building stands is the original lo- 
cation and is 240x60 feet. 


At a congregational meeting held on August 8, 1874, it was 
decided to erect a new church building. Committees were ap- 
pointed for the soliciting of funds, the securing of plans and 
measurements, etc., and on October 3 the congregation approved 
plans for a “‘two-storied brick church’’, to be “48 ft. wide and 76 
ft. long, with a recess pulpit.”” When on September 13, 1874, the 
soliciting committee reported subscriptions totaling $8645, the 
congregation voted ‘that from the encouragement thus far re- 
ceived we proceed to build a new church.” 


« 





LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENCASTLE, Pa. 
ERECTED 1792—. 


A special Memorial Service was arranged for March 14, 
1875, as the last service to be held in the “old building.’’ The 
pastor, Rev. Frederick Klinefelter, used Deut. 8:2 as his text— 
“Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led 
thee.’ This occasion is referred to as ‘‘a memorable day in the 
history of that venerable building in our ancient village, the Luth- 
eran church, one of the old landmarks of past generations.’’ The 
closing hymn sung at this service was written especially for the 
occasion by Rev. W. H. Luckenback, of Hagerstown, Md. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE B00 


Hymn ON LEAVING AN OLD PLACE OF WORSHIP 
(Tune—Old Hundred) 


Jehovah, Lord, before Thy throne, 

Once more We join to bless Thy name; 
Once more inspire us Thee to own— 

Thy love and care with loud acclaim! 


Our fathers’ earnest zeal and love 

Reared to Thy praise this temple old; 
But sweeter now in courts above, 

They joyful sing Thy grace untold! 


We leave for aye with sadden’d heart 
This Zion where they met to pray, 
Invoking, as we tearful part, 
Thy presence e’er with us to stay! 


Thro’ all the changing scenes of time, 
Thou wilt be with us to the end; 

And then in Heaven’s more glorious clime, 
Fore’er our songs to Thee shall blend! 


Ere we this hallow’d place depart, 

No more these olden walls to see; 
One final tribute from each heart 

Of gratitude shall flow to Thee: 


“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, 
Praise Him, all creatures here below; 

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” 


356 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Following this service the building was “turned over to the 
contractors for demolition,’ the work being actually begun on 
April 5, 1875, and until the new building was ready for use the 
congregation worshipped in the ‘“Town Hall.” 


The corner stone of the 
new building was laid “June 
13, 1875, and the first ser- 
vice held in the lecture 
room February 6, 1876.” 
The upper room was not 
finished until several years 
later, and during this time 
all services were held in the 
lecture room. The build- 
ing was finally completed in 
the spring of 1880, and the 
Dedicatory Service held on 
June 13 of this year. Rev. 
F. W. Conrad, D. D., then 
editor of the Lutheran Ob- 
server, preached the. dedi- 
ecatory sermon. ‘The en- 
tire length of the building, 
including tower and recess, 
is 85 ft., the width, 48 ft.. 
and the spire is 136 ft. high. 
“The plans were drawn by 
Mr. 8. D. Button, architect 
of Philadelphia, and the 
contract was awarded to 
Messrs. F. and J. Waidlich 
of Mercersburg.”’ The to- 
tal cost was $16,352. 


LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENCASTLE, Pa. “The first known pastor, 

Rev. John Ruthrauff, took 
charge in April, 1795, and served this people for forty years, all 
the services being conducted in the German language. ‘The first 
English pastor was Rev. John Reck, 1832. According to an 
agreement, written in German and signed by Rev. Ruthrauff (the 
original copy being in our hands), ‘he andRev. Reck served the 
pastorate together for several vears, likely from 1832 to 1835. The 
German and English services alternateduntil 1865, when the 
former was discontinued. 








Following is a list of the pastors from 1795 to the present 
time: Rev. John Ruthrauff, 1795-1833; Rev. John B. Reck, 
1832-1835; Rev. Jeremiah Harpel, 1835-1837; Rev. Jacob Martin, 
1837-1839; Rev. Peter Sohm, D. D., 1840-1845; Rev. Michael 





Rev. W. F. EystTer, 1865-69. 
Rev. H. B. BuRKHOLDER, 1918—. Rev. W. MorcAn Cross, 1905-18. 
Rev. E. BREIDENBAUGH, 1852-65. 
Rev. T. O. KErstTer, D.D., 1895-1905. Rev. F. KLINEFELTER, 1872-95. 
Revell EVeERerr 12) eal S 70-72. 


358 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Eyster, 1846-1849; Rev. Christian Kunkle (supply); Rev. James 
M. Harkey, 1850-1852; Rev. Edwin Breidenbaugh, 1852-1865; 
Rev. William F. Eyster, 1865-1869; Rev. A. Stewart Hartman, 
D. D., (supply); Rev. Thomas T. Everett, D. D., 1870-1872; 
Rev. Frederick Klinefelter, 1872-1895; Rev. T. O. Keister, D. D., 
1895-1905; Rev. W. Morgan Cross, 1905-1918; Rev. H. B. Burk- 
holder, 1918—. 

From the records in hand it is made quite plain that in the 
early days of the Greencastle congregation it became a sort of 
center for the extension of work to the towns and community 
round about. As early as 1800 Rev. John Ruthrauff ‘“‘who lived, 
and also served the Lutheran Church in Greencastle,” organized 
the Lutheran Church in both Mercersburg and Waynesboro. 
From a personal record book, kept by Rev. Ruthrauff and written 
in German, dating from 1818 to 1837, we find a record of services 
conducted, texts used and monies received for services at Loudon, 
Waynesboro, Mercersburg, Jacobs, Cove, Middleburg, Grossmans 
and St. Thomas. 

There are also records to show that in 1839, Greencastle, 
Grindstone Hill, Quincy and Jacobs formed one pastorate, for a 
resolution was passed “that a parsonage be purchased or built in 
Greencastle,’’ and a committee “of one from each congregation be 
appointed to attend to the above business.” A later entry, May 
24, 1845, shows that Greencastle, Marion and Grindstone Hill 
formed one pastorate under Rev. Peter Sohm, for we read that at 
a joint Council meeting they promised “under a written obligation 
to give him for a year’s salary $480 and pay for his fuel, of which 
Greencastle is to pay $215 and half the fuel, and Marion $107.50 
and one fourth the fuel, and Grindstone Hill $107.50 and one 
fourth the fuel.’ During the pastorate of Rev. Breidenbaugh 
the services at Middleburg were discontinued, and it was also 
during his pastorate, October 16, 1858, that arrangements were 
made for holding services “every two weeks at Upton.” Green- 
castle and Upton then composed the pastorate until the time of 
Rey. T. O. Keister, when he organized the congregation at William- 
son and a building was erected there. During the vacancy be- 
tween Rev. Keister and Rev. Cross ‘“‘the congregation at Upton 
and Williamson, at the request of the Greencastle congregation, 
withdrew,” and this congregation became a separate pastorate. 

It seems to have been the custom of this congregation prac- 
tically throughout her history to furnish a “‘house”’ for the pastor. 
As early as 1839 we read of a committee being appointed to pur- 
chase or build a parsonage, and in the meantime reference is made 
in the minute book to items of expense for “‘salary, rent and fuel”’ 
for the pastor. There evidently were no definite results from the 
first effort at securing a parsonage, for on September 5, 1853 it 
was voted ‘‘that a committee of five be appointed to buy or build 
q parsonage.” Following this action, on October 5, 1853, Henry 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 359 


Bushey, Bernard Walter and Samuel Ruthrauff, Trustees of the 
Lutheran Church, purchased from Rebecca Garber, for $1000, 
the “east half of lot No. 88,” together with house and buildings 
thereon, said property located on the south side of E. Baltimore 
St., near Washington St. This property was used as a parsonage 
until 1902. On September 21, 1901, it was sold at public sale, 
for $2100, and then rented by the congregation for another year. 
In January, 1902, a lot was purchased on the southeast corner of 
Washington and Madison Sts., and during the summer the pres- 
ent commodious and modern parsonage was erected at a cost of 
$5327 including the price of the lot. 

Within the last two years the congregation purchased the 





LUTHERAN PARSONAGE, GREENCASTLE, PA. 


house and lot adjoining the church property on the west, known 
as the Bushey property, at a cost of $3250. Also, having been 
granted permission by the court, all the bodies, about 66 in num- 
ber, in the grave yard immediately in the rear of the church 
building, were removed to the grave yard on the east side of 
Washington St. These graves were moved and the property 
purchased as the first step toward the rebuilding and enlarging 
of our church property. 

The first bell used is still in possession of the congregation. 
It was cast in the year 1811, by George Hedderly, Founder, 
Philadelphia, and is made after the pattern of the Liberty Bell. 
It was used until the removal of the first building in 1875. The 
bell now used is known as the Luther Memorial Bell, cast in Bal- 
timore in 1883, and so named in honor of the four hundredth an- 
niversary of the birth of the Great Reformer. 

This congregation has given the following men to the Lutheran 
ministry: Rev. George Diehl, D. D.; Rev. Michael Diehl, D. D.; 


360 HIstToRY OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rev. William Barnett; Rev. J. N. Barnett; Rev. Edward Guiney; 
Rev. George W. Baughman,; Rev. Samuel Palmer; Rev. Jacob 
Diehl, D. D.; Rev. Norman Philippy; Rev. Leslie K. Young. 
In addition to these she has two young people serving in the India 
Mission Field, Mr. and Mrs. Robert 8S. Kauffman. They sailed 
for India on December 31, 1920, and are associated with Rev. 
Haaf in developing the agricultural work on the Lam Reserve. 

There has been a steady growth and progress in the work 
during the years, and the congregation now reports a confirmed 
membership of 586, with a Sunday School of 440, exclusive of 
Cradle Roll and Home Department. The Sunday School is one 
of the oldest in the county, having grown out of a German Union 
Parochial School as early as 1810. The Superintendents have 
been Messrs. Conrad Sohm, John G. Miller, Matthias Walter, 
Thomas Davidson, Bernard Walter, Dr. Adam Carl, John Heichert, 
John Schillito, Peter Spence, Matthias Nead, Samuel Ruthrauff, 
Benjamin Palmer and Luther A. B. Fleming. Mr. Palmer served 
as Superintendent for thirty-three years, and just recently Mr. 
Fleming completed his thirty-third year of service. The Mis- 
slonary activities are carried on by three organizations, a Women’s 
Society, a Young People’s Society and a Light Brigade. 


REV PAUL SHORTCK 
PASTOR OF THE LEMASTERS CHARGE 


Paul Jacob Horick, eldest son 
of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob C. Hor- 
ick, was born at Westminster, 
Carroll Co., Md., January 22, 
1891. After attending the pub- 
lic schools of Carroll Co., he 
entered the Gettysburg Acad- 
emy in the fall of 1911, and was 
eraduated from the Academy in 
1913. 

In the fall of 1913 he entered 
Gettysburg College, spending two 
years there, and concluding his 
college course at Western Mary- 
land College, from which he was 
eraduated in 1917. 

In 1916 he married Miss Mary 
A. Leese, daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. J. G. Leese of Hokes, York 
Co., Pa. Three children have been born in the family. 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 361 


Having entered Gettysburg Theological Seminary in the fall 
of 1917, he was graduated in 1920, and ordained into the Christian 
ministry by the West Pennsylvania Synod meeting at Chambers- 
burg October 13, 1920. 

During a part of his Seminary course he supplied Mt. Calvary 
Lutheran Church at Piedmont, W. Va. In June, 1920, he was 
called to the Sylvan Charge, Sylvan, Pa., where he served almost 
three years. In February, 1923, he received a call from the 
Lemasters Charge, and entered this field March 28, 1923. 


ST. LUKE’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, WILLIAMSON, PA. 
(Lemasters Charge) 


Rev. Paut J. Horicx, Pastor 











St. LUKE’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, WILLIAMSON, PA. 


This congregation was organized September 16, 1900, with 
thirty-six charter members. Anticipating this organization, a 
building lot was purchased June 16, 1900; the corner-stone was 
laid September 29, 1901, and the dedication of the completed 
building took place August 3, 1902. The memorial church bell 
was dedicated September 27, 1903, for the purchase of which there 
were thirty-one contributors, none of whom were members of 
this church. With the growth of the school, it became necessary 
to enlarge, and on July 20, 1913, a new Sunday School room was 
dedicated. 


In the furnishing of the church auditorium, several valuable 
gifts were presented, as follows: The pulpit Bible by the Rev. 
Frederick Klinefelter; the individual communion set by Mrs. 
Sarah Hagerman and Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Hege; the hymn board 


362 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Kunkle; the church carpet by Mrs. 
Jacob W. Hege; the offering plates by Mr. Jacob W. Hege and 
Mrs. Sarah Hagerman; the large church organ by Mrs. Sarah 
Hagerman, who later presented the sum of $500 the interest of 
which is to be used for church work. 

St. Luke’s Lutheran Sunday School was organized September 
21, 1902, with 54 charter members, and now has an enrollment 
of 315. It is a “Front Line” Sunday School. The “Cross and 
Crown” system for regular attendance was adopted June 4, 1911. 
The organized adult Bible Class, which began with a charter 
membership of twenty-three on January 2, 1912, has grown to a 
present enrollment of one hundred and forty members. The first 
superintendent of the school was Mr. J. Frank Hagerman; the 
school is now under the direction of Mr. J. F. Kunkle as superin- 
tendent. Rev. Hege is a son of St. Luke’s at Williamson. 

Six pastors have ministered to the spiritual needs of the 
people of this congregation, in the following order: Revs. T. O. 
Keister, D. D., J. U. Asper, G. E. McCarney, J. Grover C. Knip- 
ple, C. H. Hershey and Paul J. Horick. 


ST. STEPHEN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, UPTON, PA. 
(Lemasters Charge) 


Rev. Pauu J. Horick, Pastor 





St. STEPHEN'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, UPTON, PA. 


St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church of the Lemasters Charge was 
established in the year 1857. The corner-stone of the church 
building was laid on September 4, 1857, in connection with a 
service that was held in the barn of Mr. Jacob Douberman. 
The service on this occasion was conducted by the Rev. Edward 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 363 


Breidenbaugh, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at 
Greencastle, Pa. 

On January 16, 1858, the following Lutheran trustees were 
elected: Adam Mummert and John Greenawalt. 

The church was dedicated on Sunday morning, August 8, 
1858. ‘The sermon was delivered by Rev. Reuben Hill, pastor of 
St. John’s Lutheran Church of Hagerstown, Md., assisted by 
Revs. T. S. Apple, Edward Breidenbaugh and John Rebaugh of 
Greencastle, Pa., and I. J. Brown from Mercersburg. 

In 1858 the following were elected members of the council 
of the Lutheran congregation: Adam Mummert, Jacob Douber- 
man, Isaac Weagley and John Greenawalt. 

Extensive improvements were made to the church in 1889 
and 1890; the re-dedication service being held January 19, 1890. 

St. Stephen’s Church formed a part of the Greencastle Charge 
until October 11, 1905, since which time, together with the church- 
es at Williamson and Lemasters, 1t forms a part of the Lemas- 
ters Charge. The pastors, therefore, have been the same that 
served these charges. This congregation has given one of its 
sons to the ministry,—the Rev. John H. Hege, who is now serving 
in the Lutheran ministry at Dover, York, Co., Pa. 


TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, LEMASTERS, PA. 
(Lemasters Charge) 


Rev. PAu “HORICK PASTOR 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, LEMASTERS, Pa. 


Trinity Lutheran Church of Lemasters was founded about 
1885, Rev. M. L. Culler supplying it from Mercersburg. At this 
early date there was no church edifice; but the organization grew 


364 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


so large in membership, that it was found necessary to build a 
place of worship, and in 1892 a committee was appointed under 
Dr. L. A. Mann, composed of Henry Etter, Dr. W. O. Lantz and 
Daniel Glazer. 

The corner-stone of the present building was laid in 1893 
and the church was dedicated the following year. The church 
was served from Mercersburg from 1885 to 1905. 

In July, 1895, a committee was appointed to canvass the 
field to find whether a union could be effected with Trinity of 
Lemasters, St. Stephen’s of Upton, and St. Luke’s of Williamson. 
This committee reported favorably and the charge was formed as 
it is at present constituted, known as the Lemasters Lutheran 
Charge. 

From this period this charge has been served by the follow- 
ing pastors: Rev. J. U. Asper, from Walkersville, Md., 1905- 
1912; Rev. Guy E. McCarney, from Gettysburg, Pa., 1913-1916; 
(the parsonage was completed under his administration); Rev. J. 
G. C. Knipple, 1917-1920; Rev. C. H. Hershey, 1920-1923; the 
present pastor began his service on April 1, 1923. 





REV. LUCKETT ASHTON BUSH 
Pastor oF Trinity LUTHERAN CHURCH, LEMOYNE, Pa. 


Rev. L. A. Bush was born in 
Lovettsville, Loudon County, 
Virginia, September 29th, 1870; 
and is the son of Dr. J. C. and 
Mary Ellen (Slater) Bush. He 
was baptized by the Rev. X. 
J. Richardson, who was a prom- 
inent divine in the Lutheran 
Church in Virginia and Mary- 
land. 

L. A. Bush ‘received his early 
training in the public schools of 
Adams (‘County,." Pane andeean 
Harney, Carroll County, Md. 
His literary education was re- 
ceived at Gettysburg Academy 
and Gettysburg College, gradu- 
ating in 1894. He studied the- 
ology in the Hamma Divinity 
School at Sprinefield, Ohio, from which institution he graduated 
in 1897. 

Upon his graduation, he received a call from the Newcomers- 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 365 


town, Ohio, pastorate, where he laboured for four years; after 
which he was called to the Jefferson pastorate of the Maryland 
Synod, in 1901; from Jefferson he was called to the Scalp Level 
Charge, serving this church from March 8rd, 1902, to November 
Ist, 1903. He went to Boonsboro, Maryland, from Scalp Level, 
Where he ministered for almost thirteen years, remodeling the 
church and parsonage for the third time, and doubling the mem- 
bership. On December 22nd, 1915, he was called to the Belle- 
ville pastorate of the Central Pennsylvania Synod, and after a 
successful administration of two years, was called to Trinity 
Lutheran Church of Lemoyne, Pa., January 28th, 1918. 

He was confirmed by the Rev. J. U. Asper, in the Mt. Joy 
Church (Mt. Joy Charge of the West Pennsylvania Synod). He 
was licensed to preach by the Wittenberg Synod at Van Wert, 
Ohio, October 4th, 1896; and ordained to the gospel ministry 
by the East Ohio Synod at Ashland, Ohio, October 24th, 1897. 

On July 18th, 1894, he was united in marriage to Ella Key 
Newcomer of Harney, Maryland. Five sons have blessed this 
union, namely: Marion P., Luther A., Horace E., J. Carroll, John 
L. The second son died in infancy. 

Upon the completion of his seminary course, Wittenberg 
College conferred the degree of A. M., and Hamma Divinity 
School, the degree of B. D. He has also filled honored positions 
in conferences and synods. 


TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, LEMOYNHE, PA 
Rev. L. A. Busy, Pastor 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, LEMOYNE, PA. 


366 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The Lutheran congregation of Riverton, now called Lemoyne, 
was organized on the 17th of January, 1895. The committee 
appointed by the Cumberland Valley Conference to look after 
the interest of the Lutherans at Riverton were: Rev. M. Ort, 
Rev. W. C. Seidel, and Rev. J. L. Nicholas. At a called meeting 
of this committee in the home of Mr. Sherman, on the above date, 
the following was transacted: 

Rev. J. Kistler was requested by Rev. M. Ort, chairman of 
the committee of Conference, to serve the people every two weeks 
in the morning and occasionally in the evening. The Rev. Ort 
called the members together, and stated that the purpose of the 
gathering was to effect a perma- 
nent organization at Riverton. 
At this meeting a constitution 
was adopted, such as recom- 
mended by the Home Mission 
Board. Messrs. W. M. Sherman 
and J. Eckert were elected Eld- 
ers; Messrs J. A. Kunkle and E. 
H. Eijchelberger were elected 
Deacons; Mr. Eichelberger de- 
clining to serve, Mr. 8. B. 
Leach was elected to fill the va- 
cancy. 


Rey. J. Kistler began to serve 
the mission January 31st, 1895; 
they worshipped in the Evangel- 
ical Church every two weeks. On 
the 7th of April the congregation 
elected Rev. J. Kistler as their pastor, who began work immediately. 

On March 14th, 1895, a lot 
70x150 on. Hummel Ave. was 
purchased by the aid of the Home 
Mission Board, and on July 
22nd, it was decided to erect a 
brick building 40x60 on the rear 
of the lot. October 13th, at 2:00 
P. M., the corner-stone was laid 
by the pastor, assisted by H. B. 
Wile, D. D., of Carlisle, and D. 
M. Gilbert, D. D., of Zion Luth- 
eran Church at Harrisburg, Pa. 
The chapel was dedicated De- 
cember 22, 1895, with a sermon 
by H. H. Weber, D. D., of York; 
assisted by E. Huber, D. D., of 
Gettysburg, Pa. 

Mr. S. B. LEacn Rev. J. Kistler was succeeded 





Mri J. AS KUNKLE 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE SOT 


by Rev. Ibach of Philadelphia, who was secured as a supply pastor. 
Rey. Ibach resigned February 11, 1900. 

On June Ist, 1900, Rev. E. E. Deitterich of Ickesburg, Pa.., 
was called to the pastorate. During his stay here, he improved 
the appearance of the church property by laying a brick pave- 
ment and beautifying the lot. He closed his labours May 31st 
1902. 

Rev. C. G. Leatherman was the next pastor. He ministered 
from May 31, 1903, to November 12th, 1906. He succeeded in 
erecting a large and convenient parsonage with all modern im- 
provements, at an estimated cost of $3000.00. 

Rev. 8. L. Rice took charge as pastor February Ist, 1907. 
Under his administration a cement block addition 40x70 was 
built to the chapel at a cost of $10,000.00. The church was much 
encouraged with this improvement and the work was strengthened. 
During his pastorate the church became self-sustaining. He re- 
signed January 14th, 1912. 

Rev. R. R. Rudolph was called April 15th, 1912, and served 
until May Ist, 1913. 

June Ist, 1913, Rev. E. L. Manges began his work here. He 
served the charge very acceptably and retired November 16th, 
1917, to assume his duties as a Chaplain in the late war. During 
the recent war the church sent twenty-one young men into 
the service of the nation. 

The present pastor, Rev. L. A. Bush, began his ministry 
here March Ist, 1918. During his devoted ministry a two- 
manual pipe-organ costing $2600.00 has been installed; and im- 
provements were made in the church consisting of an altar, lec- 
tern, baptismal-font, indirect lighting system and frescoing. The 
school numbers about 390, while the communicant membership 
of the church is about 320. 


368 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. RALPH L. WAGNER 
PASTOR OF THE LOWER FRANKFORD CHARGE 


Ralph L. Wagner was born at 
Gordon, Schuylkill Co., Penna., 
on June 11, 1892. He is the son 
of Wiliam E. and Gertrude La- 
Shelle Wagner. He became a 
member, by confirmation, of St. 
Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, of Gordon. 

After graduating from the pub- 
lic schools of Gordon he con- 
tinued his education at Gettys- 
burg, Pa., graduating from Get- 
tysburg Academy in 1914; Get- 
tysburg College in 1918, with B. 
A. degree; and Gettysburg Theo- 
logical Seminary in 1922. At 
the present time he is pursuing 
a course in Biblical Literature 
in the University Extension De- 
partment of Columbia University, New York City. 

He was licensed to preach by the Synod of East Pennsylvania 
in 1921, and was ordanied by the West Pennsylvania Synod in 
1922. 

On May 15, 1922, he received a call to the Lower Frankford 
Charge of the Cumberland Valley Conference and began his 
pastoral duties on June 1, 1922. 

During the first year of his pastorate the Plainfield Church 
was equipped with stained glass memorial windows. On De- 
cember 10, 1922, he was installed as pastor and the church was re- 
dedicated by the Rev. Dr. G. W. Nicely, assisted by the former 
pastor, Rev. Ira F. Brame. 

During the same year a piano was purchased by the Stone 
Church Congregation. During 1923 two new memorial windows 
were placed in the pulpit end of the Plainfield church. A modern 
heating system has been installed in the Carlisle Springs church, 
and an electric lighting system in the Plainfield Church. — 

In addition to his pastoral duties he is secretary of the Carlisle 
Ministerial Association and chaplain of the Plainfield Grange. 

On August 9, 1922, he was united in marriage with. Miss 
Stella Shumaker, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. L. M. Shumaker, 
of Harrisburg. Mrs. Wagner graduated from Gettysburg Acad- 
emy in 1918, and from Gettysburg College in 1921, with the B. 
A. degree. She was also awarded the Graeff Prize in English. 
Then she took a one year course in the Gettysburg Theological 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 369 


Seminary and at the same time worked for and won her Master 
of Arts degree. During 1923 she completed a course inGreek and 
Latin Literature under the department of University Extension 
of Columbia University, New York City. 

On October 25, 1923, a daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Wag- 
ner, was born to Rev. and Mrs. Wagner. 


CARLISLE SPRINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH 
(Lower Frankford Charge) 


Rev. Rateu L. WAGNER, Pastor 





CARLISLE SPRINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH 


The German Reformed and Evangelical Lutheran union con- 
gregation was organized in 1828 at what was then known as 
Carlisle Sulphur Springs. The financial record of the joint- 
council states than on November 8, 1828, the amount of $372.87 
was subscribed to pay the cost of the substantial stone building 
then known as the Sulphur Springs church. This building has 
withstood the storms of nearly a century and 1s still in a perfect 
state of preservation. ‘Our fathers builded well.” 

Historical records of the early years of the church are very 
meager and consequently dates of pastorates are to an extent 
conjectural and lable to error. Because of the fact that it has 
always been a union church there is a possibility of the confusion 
of names of the pastors of the two congregations, especially with 
respect to the very early pastorates. 


370 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The earliest Lutheran pastoral service of which there is 
record is that of the Rev. Daniel Wertz, who conducted a com- 
munion service in 1880. Rev. Charles F. Schaeffer was pastor 
from 1831 to 1834; Rev. John Ulrich, 1835-1842; Rev. Jacob 
Keampfer, 1842-1848. The dates of the following pastorates are 
not available—Revs. 8. Hooper, D. Stock, E. Dutt (1870?), D. 
A. Sterner, J. Kistler, and supply pastors Lesher and Gephart. 
On October 1, 1891, the Rev. Ira F. Brame was installed. He 
served faithfully and well for twenty-nine years and one month, 
resigning, October 31, 1921. The present pastor, Rev. Ralph L. 
Wagner, began his pastorate on June 1, 1922, and was formally 
installed on December 10th of the same year by the President of 
the West Penna. Synod, Rev. G. W. Nicely, D. D. 

In its youth the Carlisle Springs church building was as 
picturesque as it is pretty today. In addition to a gallery it had 
a high pulpit approached by a winding stairway. This pulpit 
remained in use until its replacement in 1902. The earliest 
recorded addition to the appointments of the church was the 
purchase of communion vessels at a cost of $13.87 in 1854. In 
1868 a subscription was taken for the purchase of coal stoves. 
Presumably the church was heated prior to this date with wood 
burners. ? 

In 1902 the church building was extensively repaired and re- 
modeled. A belfry was constructed; stained glass windows in- 
stalled; a new pulpit, pulpit furniture, choir chairs, and pews were 
purchased; a new carpet was laid, and the walls and ceiling were 
newly papered and painted. The total expenditure was $1,036.54. 
The belfry, costing $75.00, was the gift of Mr. David Brindle. 
The bell was purchased by the Sunday School, which raised the 
sum of $80.00 for the purpose. The pulpit, pulpit furniture, and 
the pews were purchased by the Ladies’ Aid Society at a cost of 
$241.00. The choir chairs, costing $15, were the gift of Mrs. 
Amelia Leonard; and the pulpit lamp, costing $5, was the eift 
of Mr. Frank Leonard. The carpet, costing $31, was the gift of 
the Christian Endeavor Society. The stained glass windows, 
costing $182, were donated by various members of both congre- 
gations. 

Mr. Emmanuel Wert and Mr. R. 5S. Wolf collected by sub- 
scription $223.50. The total amount raised for the improvements 
was $1,087.43. After all bills were paid there was still a balance of 
$50.89 in the improvement fund. <A few years later a beautiful 
art metal ceiling was installed by the Ladies’ Aid. About 1912 
an efficient acetylene gas lighting system was installed, largely 
thru the efforts of the young people. 

In 1924, through the efforts of the Ladies’ Aid, a modern 
warm air circulating heating system was installed at a total cost 
of about $600.00, toward which the Christian Endeavor Society 
contributed $150. The coal stoves were removed and replaced 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE Syl 


with pews, and the entire interior of the church was redecorated 
at a cost of $100. At the same time the Ladies’ Adult Bible 
Class purchased little chairs for the primary classes and a portion 
of the auditorium was curtained off for their use. 

In all of the improvement and remodeling projects there has 
been the most cordial co-operation between the two congregations 
and their respective pastors. 


LOWER FRANKFORD LUTHERAN CHURCH 


(Lower Frankford Charge) 


Rev. Rate L. WAGNER, PASTOR 





LOWER FRANKFORD LUTHERAN CHURCH 


The Lower Frankford Lutheran and Reformed union con- 
oregation Was organized in 1820. Originally the church auditor- 
ium had a high “‘wineglass” pulpit and a capacious gallery ex- 
tending around three sides of the room. In comparatively recent 
years the gallery and the high pulpit were removed and a con- 
ventional pulpit placed at one end of the rectangular auditorium 
and the pews arranged in the conventional style. A vestibule 
and belfry were also constructed. 

Of the early pastors there is no record in available form until 
the pastorate of Rev. Ira F. Brame who took charge on October 
31, 1891. The present pastor, Rev. Ralph L. Wagner, began his 
pastorate on June 1, 1922. In 1920 the 100th anniversary of the 
church was celebrated with the Rev. Samuel T. Wagner present 


re! History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


as the representative of the Carlisle Classis of the Reformed 
ehurch, and Rev. H. B. Stock, D. D., then President of the West 
Penna. Synod, present as the representative of the Lutheran 
church. 

During the past two years the church has purchased a piano, 
the corners of the auditorium have been curtained off for the use 
of the primary classes, and a new carpet is being laid. 


PLAINFIELD LUTHERAN CHURCH 
(Lower Frankford Charge) 


Rev. Ratpo L. WaGner, Pastor 





PLAINFIELD LUTHERAN CHURCH 


Prior to the erection of denominational churches in Plainfield 
in 1870, a large brick structure served all purposes for various 
denominations, also serving for lectures, music classes, and enter- 
tainments. This building had two school rooms on the first 
floor. The place of worship was on the second floor and was 
equipped with a high pulpit and gallery. 

About 1860, Rev. Baker, stationed at Newville, organized a 
Lutheran congregation in the old union building. 

Early in 1870, Rev. E. Dutt, a Lutheran minister, decided 
to conduct a series of revival services at Plainfield. On February 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE Bio 


5th he began the services which continued for eight weeks. The 
result was the reorganization of the congregation and the con- 
version of many additional souls, who with few exceptions have 
remained steadfast in their faith. 

On the 24th day of April, 1870, Rev. Dutt held his first 
communion with the reorganized congregation. Deep spirituality 
was manifest on the part of the communicants. 

Under such propitious circumstances Rev. Dutt determined 
to establish an independent church, and when on April 23, 1870, 
he mentioned the matter, his suggestion met with hearty and 
practically unanimous approval. Arrangements were immediate- 
ly made for the erection of a house of worship. 

The building committee was composed of George Drawbaugh, 
Sr., Thomas Stump, Jacob Rhoads, and Rev. Dutt. 

A lot was purchased from Jacob Householder and the erection 
of a building was hastened to completion so that in October of 
the same year it was ready for dedication. Dedicatory services 
were held on October 22nd and 23rd. ‘The sermon of the first 
service was preached by the Rev. C. L. Keedy, who was then 
located at Centerville. His text for the evening was Genesis 
6:14. He collected, as solicitor, $550. The dedication proper 
took place on Sunday, October 23rd. The Rev. Joel Swartz, D. 
D., of Carlisle, preached the sermon. 

The Church Council was: Elders, John D. Snyder and Thomas 
Stump; Deacons, Peter Calvert, William Drawbaugh, Isaac Van- 
asdel, and Samuel Berry; Trustee, George Drawbaugh, Sr. 

On the succeeding councils, Mr. Wiliam Weary served for 
nearly 30 years; a large part of the time as president of the council. 
To his aggressiveness the Church owed much of its early progress’ 

Mr. Wallace Moyer has also been a member of the council 
for many years and has always been faithful in the performance 
of duty. 

The present council is composed of Mr. George Derik, presi- 
dent, Peter Mvers, George Reeder, Charles Stum, Mervin Kell, 
Frank Paul, Wilbur Royer and Calvin Burr. 

Beginning in 1880 Rev. H. A. Letterman served as pastor 
for some years and filled the position most acceptably. He was 
succeeded by Rev. John Kistler, who died in Carlisle some years 
ago. ‘Then came Rev. Wm. Lesher, who is now preaching in the 
‘middle west. On October 1, 1891, Rev. Ira F. Brame was in- 
stalled. He served the charge faithfully and well for twenty-nine 
years and one month, resigning October 31, 1920. The charge 
was vacant for slightly more than a year and a half. In May, 
1922, the present pastor, Hees Ralph L. Wagner, then a student 
at Gettysburg Theological Seminary, accepted a call eu the 
charge and began his official duties on June Ist. His work has 
been largely that of reorganization and reconstruction. 

In 1895 the growth of the Sunday School demanded more 


S14 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


room and an extentson was built on which a tower was placed. 
A fine church bell was presented by the late Dr. J. E. Van Camp. 
The entire building was remodeled, exterior and interior, new 
fencing included at a cost of over $1,200. In the fall of the same 
year the building was rededicated. Dr. Weber, of York, Pa., 
officiated at this important event and solicited funds for the pay- 
ment of the debt. The building committee consisted of Wim. 
Weary, Dr. J. E. Van Camp, and Samuel Young. 

In 1922, under the direction of the present pastor, Rev. 
Ralph L. Wagner, all of the windows of the church were replaced 
with stained glass memorial windows and they were dedicated on 
December 10, 1922, by the president of the Synod, Rev. George 
W. Nicely, D. D., in connection with the installation of the pastor. 
Just a year later two new memorial windows were installed in 
the pulpit end of the church, which had hitherto been an unbroken 
wall. At about the same time the church was equipped with 
hymn board and vestibule bulletin board and the Sunday School 
with a Register of Attendance and Offering board. In 1925 an 
electric lighting system was installed. 

The record of Sunday School superintendents in rotation is 
not authentic, since in the early life of the school, the records 
were either not svstematically kept, or else they were mislaid or 
destroyed. It 1s not certain whether Thomas Stump, Peter 
Calvert, or Adam Finkenbinder was the first superintendent. 
Those who came after were Adam Smith, Wiliam Kennedy, Sam- 
uel Kennedy, F. P. Brehm, Samuel Young, H. B. Swarner, Harry 
Souders, Joseph Yoter, Wallace Moyer, EK. P. Miller, Mervin Keil, 
and Charles Stum, the present incumbent. 

Mrs. Wallace Moyer is the superintendent of the Primary 
Department, a position which she has held for many years. 

The Cradle Roll department of the Sunday School was estab- 
lished fourteen years ago. The present enrollment is 16. Miss 
Grace Weary is the superintendent. 

The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor is very 
progressive and has an enrollment of 60. In 1922 the society 
placed a memorial window in the church auditorium, and another 
window in the vestibule. 

One of the most active organizations of the church is the 
Light Brigade, of which Miss Genevieve Heiser is the president. 
In 1922, under the leadership of Miss Rose Kell, the Light Brigade 
placed two memorial windows in the church and has recently 
purchased an attractive hymn board for the church auditorium. 
In competition with all of the Light Brigade organizations of the 
West Pennsylvania Synod, the Plainfield Light Brigade won the 
Synod Banner for the best average attendance throughout the 
vear. The enrollment is 26. 


Or 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE Olt 
REV. MAHLON STECK MILLER 
PASTOR OF THE McCCONNELLSBURG CHARGE 


Mahlon Steck Miller was born 
to William and Mary Zug Miller 
in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, No- 
vember 29, 1892. He was bap- 
tized in 1898 by Rev. W. F. 
Steck and confirmed in the First 
Lutheran Church of Philipsburg, 
1906, by Rev. C. E. Butler. He 
attended the public schools of 
Mt. Holly Springs, Pa., and 
Philipsburg, Pa. He was gradu- 
ated from the Philipsburg High 
School in 1911. He received the 
A. B. degree from Pennsylvania 
College in 1915, and was gradu- 
ated from Gettysburg Seminary 
in 1918. He was licensed to 
preach by the Alleghany Synod 
in Johnstown in 1917 and or- 
dained by the same synod in Altoona in 1918. He has served 
three charges, Grace, Berwick, 1918-1919; Lyons, Bernville, 1919- 
1922; McConnellsburg, 1922—present. He was united in mar- 
riage to Virginia Emma Williamson at Buchanan, Virginia, June 
21, 1922. They have one daughter, Alma Virginia. 





ST. PAUL’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
BIG COVE TANNERY, PA. 


(MecConnellsburg Pastorate) 
Rev. M. 8. Mituer, Pastor 


This congregation was organized December 22nd, 1849, under 
the name of Mt. Pisgah congregation, by Rev. Wm. Kopp, pastor 
of the McConnellsburg church. The original members, nineteen 
in number were: Henry Unger, George Eitemiller, John Conner, 
Philip Krickbaum, James Glenn, Joseph Pence, William Pence, 
James Montgomery, John Bechtel, Susan Pence, Margaret Eite- 
miller, Hannah Suffacoal, Mary Montgomery, Sophiah Glenn, 
Elonor Pence, Catherine Krichbaum, Susan Unger, Jacob Pence, 
Eve Craig. The congregation at first held regular services in the 
Conner school house near Big Cove Tannery, Ayr Township, 


376 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Fulton County. In 1871, during the pastorate of Rev. Philip 
Doeer, a neat church building was erected, opposite the school 
house. It was not dedicated however until the coming of Rev. 
J. B. Anthony as pastor of the congregation. The building is 
still in use. 

For some reason the congregation did not prosper well during 
its early years, and in 1874 it was reorganized by the Rev. J. R. 


HE: 
peel 
ae ire 








St. Pauw’s LUTHERAN CHurRcH, Bic Cove TANNERY, PA. 


Focht with 21 members, under the name of ST. PAUL’S EVAN- 
GELICAL LUTHERAN CONGREGATION OF BIG COVE 
TANNERY. Since that time the congregation has grown in 
numbers and in influence and is doing a good work in the com- 
munity. It has at present 134 members. It has from its organi- 
zation been in the same pastoral charge with McConnellsburg and 
a list of its pastors can be found in the history of that church. 


ST. PAUL’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
McCONNELLSBURG, PA. 


(MeConnellsburg Pastorate) 

Rev. M.S. Miuuer, Pastor 
The first church erected in the village of MceConnellsburg 
was a small log building. It was erected by the Lutherans in 


1801 on the site of the present Lutheran church. The building 
was ample in size at the time for all the people of the village. 


= 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE Bi 


The church had no regular pastor at first but had frequent prenge 
ing by traveling missionaries. In 1804, ten years before the in- 
corporation of the village as a borough, the congregation was 
organized and Rev. Jonathan Ruthrauff became its pastor. Un- 
der him the congregation prospered greatly and he remained its 
pastor until 1814. Later the log church was weatherboarded and 
painted red. 


Among the pastors of the church was a German Reformed 
preacher, the Rev. Dieffenbaugh, 1834. Some Reformed people 
had been worshiping with the Lutherans and under Rev. Dieffen- 
baugh a union was made between the two congregations; but it 
lasted only a short time when the Reformed congregation erected 





ST. PauL’s LUTHERAN CHuRcH, McCoONNELLSBURG, PA. 


their own church. The Reformeds for many years held a claim 
upon the bell on the Lutheran church and it was rung for their 
services and tolled for their dead as well as for the Lutherans. 
The bell, which is still in service on the Lutheran church, is of 
great interest. It was cast in Russia and is dated 1736. 


In 1848 the old church was torn down and the present brick 
building was erected. The growth of the congregation has been 
oT adual throughout its years, numbering at present 235 members. 
Two sons of the congregation are now in the Lutheran ministry, 
Rev. C. W. Seville and Rev. Herman 8. Cook. 


Originally the preaching was in the German language. Early, 
however, English was introduced and gradually won its way; and 
about 1880 the German was entirely omitted from the services. 
The Lutherans, as well as the other congregations of the commun- 
ity, have always shown a splendid spirit of union, working well 


378 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


together for the advancement of God’s kingdom. An interesting 
custom, which prevailed for some years, was that churches would 
often close their service early on a Sunday when a sister church 
was holding communion, to allow the pastor to assist his fellow- 
pastor administer the elements. 

The congregation has throughout most of its history been 
blest with godly men as its pastors. It gives promise of con- 
tinuing to do a good work in the community. 

The list of its pastors follows :— 


Reve Johnek ute 0 beeen te eens eee 1804-1814 
Réve Ferdinanc? Grim ore eee 1814-1826 
REVeONE SS CHUL Zee ee ee 1826-1832 
Reve (Reuben. W cliser ae eee eee 1832-1834 
Rev. Dieffenbaugh....... ih. ONSET 1834-1835 
Reve SamueleR ofhroclca en eaten ee ee 1835-1837 
Reve Pelerasaiiiia cee eee ne eee 1837-1843 
ReGves Davies! (eee ens eee ee 1843-1845 
Rey wil ham op pe cise) aes te ee 1845-1850 
Reve iemtiie Bech tale ee eee ee nn ee 1850-1854 
Rév Solomon Gi ent ys seer ue eee 1854-1859 
Review otiie at Go cats foie eras pe eee 1859-1862 
Reve SevieeWillets oneness) eee eee 1862-1870 
Rév.ePhilip sD ocerste 5 alias eee eee 1870-1872 
Revs) OB SAT THON yee eee ene eee 1872-1874 
Revd Osephth sa WOCh Latest nee oe een ee 1874-1876 
Reve Hee Bae Win tin ee near ee 1876-1880 
Revi BABS K autaar ee eee oe oer anc ee en eee 1880-1888 
Reva D Spe Wurtz! ee eee ree 1888-1890 
Rey JG. NM cGaugheyc ne eee 1891-1894 
Rev. WW 2Pr Drawbauchiee se te re nee 1895-1900 
Revs Asi Ge W olivia oak a ee ee 1900-1906 
Reva Calving assoldais = aeeneen seen ee 1907-1910 
Revs Chflords Hayste veya y oe 6 en ae ee 1910-1911 
Reva. Robertabéterman . eee er nee 1912-1916 
Revs. Glee SCObS 2 ae. saat er ee. eer aren 1917-1921 


RevesVie Saville r eae ee ns 1922-Present. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 379 


REV. M. R. HAMSHER 
Pastor OF TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, MECHANICSBURG, PA. 


Rev. M. R. Hamsher was born 
at Fayetteville, Pa., R. D. No. 1, 
on October 3, 1882. His father, 
Mr. O. C. Hamsher, was a 
teacher in the schools of Frank- 
lin County for thirty years. His 
father and his mother, Mrs. 
Clara A. A. Hamsher, were both 
members of St. Paul’s Lutheran 
Church, Fayetteville. He was 
catechized by Rev. William C. 
Heffner, Ph. D., and baptized 
in April, 1898, in the church of 
his parents. In the same year 
he received a Common School 
Diploma from the Woodstock 
School, Green Township, Frank- 
lin Co. He was graduated from 
Chambersburg Academy in 1901; 
from Gettysburg College in 1904, with the degree of A. B.; and 
from the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in 1908, with the 
degree of B. D. He taught for one year before taking his Semi- 
nary course, serving as Asst. Principal of the High School at Rich- 
wood, Ohio, in 1904-1905. During his last summer in the Semi- 
nary, he supplied the pulpit of Memorial Lutheran Church, Ship- 
pensburg, Pa. for four months. The first six years of his ministry 
were spent in the Pittsburgh Synod. He accepted a call to the 
Avonmore Charge on March 1, 1908. From June 1, 1910, to 
November 1, 1913, he served the Home Mission field of St. James’ 
Lutheran Church on the South Side Hills, Pittsburgh; and was with 
the Emmanuel Lutheran congregation, West Etna, Pa. until Sept. 
1, 1914. 


Beginning on this date, he served as pastor of St. Matthew’s 
Lutheran Church, York, Pa., for a period of seven years. During 
the influenza epidemic, he was bereaved by the loss of his wife, 
Mrs. Eleanor Miller Hamsher, who departed this life on February 
4, 1920. She was a graduate of Gettysburg College in 1907, and 
was united with him in marriage on June 23, 1909. Two sons, 
Carl Miller Hamsher and Paul Oliver Hamsher survive her loss. 

From September 1, 1921, to September 1, 1923, he was pastor 
of Trinity Lutheran Church, Reisterstown, Md.; and, returning 
to his mother Synod, he became the pastor of Trinity Lutheran 
Chureh, Mechanicsburg, Pa., on September 1, 1923. 





380 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
MECHANICSBURG, PA. 


Rev. M. R. HamMsuer, PASTorR 








TRINITY LUTHERAN CHuRCH, MECHANICSBURG, Pa, 


The congregation out of which ‘Trinity’ grew was ‘“‘The 
Evangelical Congregation of Messiah’s Church in Mechanicsburg, 
Cumberland Co., Pa.’”? When Rev. N. J. Stroh was pastor of the 
Mechanicsburg charge, in which Messiah’s was included with 
several adjacent congregations, a church building was erected. 
It was a one-story frame structure, 25 ft. by 40 ft. in size, located 
on a lot on the north side of Hast Main St., near the public square. 
It was dedicated in 1844. 


The successor of Rev. Stroh, who resigned in 1846, was Rev. 
Augustus Babb, a pioneer in the Home Mission field of Western 
Pennsylvania. He served this charge for nearly five years, re- 
signing in 1851 to become a field agent for Pennsylvania College. 

On April 1, 1851, Rev. Adam Height became the pastor of 
the charge. Under his leadership, ‘Trinity’? was organized on 
December 24, 1852, with 53 members. A constitution was adopt- 
ed and the following officers were elected: Elders, Lewis Bricker 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 381 


and Lewis Bobb; Deacons, Emanuel Seifert and Jeremiah Sense- 
man. George Hummel was the leader of the choir and Henry 
Williams was the first sexton. Rev. Height tendered his resig- 
nation in 1854. 

For a period of more than two years, there was no regular 
pastor; but the congregation was served during part of this time 
by Rev. C. Niterauer, pastor of the New Kingston charge. 

Rey. Cyrus Rightmyer was secured as the new leader on 
December 1, 1856. During his pastorate, the lot on East Main 
St., on which the present church stands, was purchased from the 
Senseman heirs for $1080. It is interesting to note that the small 
dwelling house on this lot was sold for $5, and the pale fence for 
$1. The old church property was sold to Philip Uhler for $850. 
A church edifice was erected on the new lot in 1858-59. The 
architect was William Simens of Harrisburg, and the contractor 
was Henry Myers of Carlisle. The total cost of the building was 
about $4400. The corner-stone was laid on September 22, 1858; 
and the church was dedicated on Christmas, 1859, Rev. Kurtz of 
Baltimore, preaching the sermon. 

A Sunday School had been organized in the lecture room of 
the church on September 3, 1859, with an enrollment of 11 teachers 
and 60 scholars. A church bell was purchased in 1860 at a cost 
of $130. Rev. Rightmyer accepted a call to Reading, Pa., re- 
moving to his new field on May 23, 1861. 

A call was extended Rev. J. R. Groff, a student at the Gettys- 
burg Seminary, who took up the work of the charge on October 
1, 1861. By an act of the State Legislature, approved by Gover- 
nor Curtin, April 5, 1862, Trinity was incorporated under a re- 
vised constitution. On September 21, 1862, Rev. Groff resigned 
as pastor of Trinity; but continued to serve the other churches of 
the charge. He was succeeded in Trinity by Rev. C. A. Gelwicks, 
on October 1, 1862. Trinity had united with the New Market 
and Zion congregations to form a charge; but, when the last- 
named congregations arranged to form a new charge, on De- 
cember 14, 1866, Rev. Gelwicks was requested to give his entire 
time to Trinity. The Mite Society was organized in November, 
1867. 

Rev. T. C. Pritchard succeeded Rev. Gelwicks and served as 
pastor from 1868 to 1871. The Trindle Spring congregation 
united with Trinity to form a new charge in April, 1871. The 
next pastor, Rev. H. R. Fleck, ministered to these two congrega- 
tions from April 1, 1872, to October 1, 1875. During his pastor- 
ate, subscriptions to the church debt amounting to nearly $3,000, 
were secured. In October, 1875, the council purchased a parson- 
age property on Hast Locust St., near Arch St., for the sum of 
$1450. 

Rev. Melanchthon Ort, who was elected pastor on December 
22, 1875, served the congregation almost twenty years. In his 


382 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


pastorate, the following organizations were established: The 
Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society, in 1883; the 
Mission Band, in 1884; and the Luther League, in 1890. In 1889, 
extensive repairs were made to the church. The front was 
painted, and a new roof was put on the building. The inside 
repairs consisted of putting in iron ceilings, iron pillars, new pews 
and frescoing. The total cost was approximately $2500. ‘The 
church was re-dedicated on February 10, 1890. Rev. Ort, being 
in il health, resigned as pastor; but died on August 2, 1895, 
before the resignation was to have taken effect. He was buried 
at Springfield, Ohio. Rev. Ort served the West Pennsylvania 
Synod as its President for the three years ending in October, 1892, 
1893 and 1894. 

The action of the Trindle Spring and Trinity congregations 
separating the charge was approved by Synod in October, 1895. 
Dr. E. J. Wolf, of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, sup- 
pled the pulpit until January 1, 1896, when Dr. E. D. Weigle 
came on the field. He served as pastor for sixteen years, resign- 
ing in 1912 to become pastor of the Camp Hill church, which had 
been organized and served during his earlier ministry in Trinity. 
In 1896, the congregation purchased a lot on. Kast Main St., on 
which the family of George Hummel, deceased, erected a beautiful 
parsonage as a memorial for him and his wife, Sarah Hummel. 
The Golden Jubilee of Trinity and the Silver Jubilee of the pastor 
were celebrated December 21-29, 1902. On February 26, 1905, 
a Hook and Hastings pipe organ was dedicated, the amount re- 
quired for the installation of the organ—$3,200—having been 
secured prior to the day of dedication. Dr. Weigle served the 
Synod in many official relationships, and was its President for 
the years ending October, 1902, 1903 and 1904. 

The pastorate of Rev. H. Hall Sharp began July 5, 1912. 
In April, 1914, a bequest of $180 from Mrs. Minerva W. LaMaann 
and the gift of a lot of ground in Mechanicsburg from her husband, 
Mr. Eugene LaManna, were received and set apart for a suitable 
memorial. Expensive repairs to the church were undertaken in 
1914. The entire front of the church was rebuilt with Bradford 
pressed brick and brown stone trimmings; copper filials were 
placed at top of the four pilasters in front of the building; and new 
doors, steps, Walks and standard hghts were installed. The total 
cost was over $1500. Rev. Sharp was a delegate of the Synod 
to the Merger Convention of the United Lutheran Church. He 
resigned on November 1, 1920, to accept a call from St. Luke’s 
Lutheran Church, Cumberland, Md. 

On September 28, 1920, the council of Trinity Church de- 
cided to invite the council of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church to con- 
sider the union of the two congregations. A number of conferences 
were held but the project was not consummated. 

Rev. E. Martin Grove succeeded Rev. Sharp on June 1, 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 383 


1921. A Building Fund was started during his pastorate and 
plans for the renovation and enlargement of the church property 
were considered. Certain amendments and alterations to the 
charter of the church were approved by the Court on August 29, 
1922. He accepted a call from Bethlehem Church, Harrisburg, 
leaving Trinity on May 1, 1923. 

The present pastor, Rev. M. R. Hamsher, began his work 
on September 1, 1923. During the year 1924 extensive improve- 
ments were made to the church property, consisting of a large 
annex in the rear of the church edifice, with rooms for the Men’s 
Bible Class, the Primary Department, library room, two lava- 
tories, a modern kitchen, and on the second floor, a choir room 
and a sacristy. The old Sunday School room was refrescoed and 
divided into class rooms by the latest “Wilson’’ folding doors. 
The church auditorium also was refrescoed, the chancel deepened, 
and new pulpit furniture installed. A rose window in the rear of 
the chance! adds much to the attractiveness of the deepened 
chancel. The pipe organ was completely overhauled. The X- 
ray lighting system was installed in the church auditorium. 
The stairways leading to the auditorium were rebuilt and changed 
somewhat. A new entrance was made into the Sunday School 
ooms from the vestibule. 

Services of rededication, beginning November 30, 1924, 
continued throughout the week, with sermons and addresses on 
successive evenings by Revs. G. W. Nicely, D. D., C. 8. Bauslin, 
De eelimlie harp, La WLartin, Groves George Vrach» D..De I 
SnantrvelLloimanw) seca Ngee WVlelhorns Deeb eerarnd CrP. 
Wiles, D. D. 


384 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Vee Hee VET hy 
Pastor or Str. Joun’s Luraeran CuurcH, Mircerssure, Pa. 


The present pastor, Rev. G. 
E. Miller, was born on the 13th 
day of April, 1894, in Lower 
Mifflin Township, Cumberland 
County, Pa. He was the second 
son of Jerry Dewalt and Mary 
Catharine Muller, members of 
the St. Peter’s Evangelical Luth- 
eran Church of the Upper Frank- 
ford Charge. He spent the early 
years of his life on the farm 
Where he was born. He was 
baptized in infancy. At the age 
of twelve, he was catechised and 
confirmed by the Rev. W. G. 
Slifer, his pastor, in the St. 
Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, of the Upper Frankford 
Charge. His early education was 
received in the rural school near his home. Later he attended 
high school at Bloserville, Pa. This being a township high school 
it was necessary that he receive more preparation prior to entering 
college so he entered the preparatory department of Gettysburg 
College in the spring of 1915, and in the fall of 1916 he entered 
College and graduated with the class of 1920, with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. He immediately entered the Theological Sem- 
inary at Gettysburg and completed his course in 1923. He was 
licensed by the West) Pennsylvania Synod in the fall of 1922, and 
ordained by the same Synod at its convention in the fall of 1923, 
at York, Pa. During his last year in Seminary, he received a call 
from the Jerome Congregation located within the bounds of the 
Allegheny Synod and accepted it the latter part of January, 1923. 
On February 10th, 1924, he resigned the Jerome pastorate and 
accepted a call extended by the Biglerville Charge located in the 
West Pennsylvania Synod, where he served one year, to February 
22, 1925, when he accepted a call from St. John’s Lutheran Church 
of Mercersburg, Pa., and entered upon his pastorate here March 
1. Rev. Miller was married to Miss Mary W. Mentzer of Carlisle, 
Pa.; of this union Emma Catharine was born. 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 385 


ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
MERCERSBURG, PA. 


RiveG. EeavlinueE, bASTOR 





ST. JOHN’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, MERCERSBURG, PA. 


We do not know just when St. John’s was organized, but we 
know it is a very old congregation. Lutherans are known to 
have settled in and about Mercersburg more than 150 years ago. 
Rev. George Baugher of Conewago (now Hanover,) York Coun- 
ty, visited the Lutherans in this section as early as 1765, baptizing 
the children, preaching the Word and administering the holy 
Communion. When the town was laid out, in 1786, mention was 
made of a building lot, in the town plat, which was held by the 
Lutherans and German Reformed as a joint property. In 1804, 
the Lutherans adopted a congregational constitution which refers 


386 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


to a union church building, then erected and in the use of the 
congregations. So we are sure there were both a congregation and 
church here in 1804, and we are reasonably sure that the congre- 
gation was organized and the church built very soon after the 
town was laid out in 1786. The union congregation was dis- 
solved prior to, or about, 1811, and separate organizations Were 
effected. 

The earliest document extant is a congregational constitu- 
tion adopted May 10, 1804. It was written by Rev. John Ruth- 
rauff, Lutheran pastor in Greencastle, who at that time assumed 
the pastorship of this congregation, in connection with his work 
in Greencastle, and continued in that capacity until 1827, a 
period of 28 years. The first church, already referred to, was 
built jointly by the Lutherans and Reformed, and was a log church 
on North Lafayette street, in the Northeastern part of the town. 
It was a very primitive structure, and small. The seats were 
made of logs halved and smoothed, with wooden pins on the 
round side for legs. The windows were small, and the ceiling low. 
The situation was marshy and difficult of access on account of 
mud and water. The church boasted the first bell in the settle- 
ment, and it was placed on a wooden framework separate from 
the church. ‘Tradition tells us this bell came from a monastery 
in Europe; and was, of course, the pride of the community. The 
singing was very congregational—no choir, no organ—but a 
leader pitched the tunes, and all who could took up the strains. 
The original lot cost 101 pounds and 1 shilling. 

In 1818, the little log church had become so dilapidated and 
the congregations had so outgrown their quarters that additional 
land was purchased on the Northern side of the original tract, 
at a cost of $40.00, and the old log church was replaced with a 
substantial stone structure. This was not completed, however, 
till about 1825; and in 1834 it was repaired at a cost of about 
$1,000. This building was abandoned by the Reformed and 
Lutherans when they relocated, respectively in 1845 and 1868, 
and it was sold to the United Brethren who have since replaced 
it with a wooden building which is still standing and in use by 
them. 

In 1827 Rev. Ruthrauff was succeeded by Rev. Schultze, 
pastor of the MeConnellsburg Church, who served it in connection 
with that work for two years. The Mercersburg Church was 
served by Rev. Baughey of Clearspring, Md., 1830-1832. It was 
served from St. Thomas, 1832-1835, by Rev. Reuben Weiser to 
whom belongs the credit for having introduced English services 
in the congregation. The congregation at this time numbered 
only about 60 members, and was vacant from the time of the 
resignation of pastor Weiser, 1835, to 1846, securing such ser- 
vices as 1t could from neighboring pastors. 

Sometime in 1846 Rev. Michael Eyster, who had charge of 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 387 


the Lutheran Church in Greencastle, also became pastor of the 
Mercersburg Congregation, and continued in that relation until 
1849. Again there was a vacancy until 1851. In 1851 Rev. P. 
P. Lane became the pastor, but was succeeded in 1853 by Rev. 
M. B. Baechtel who served the church for one year. In 1854 
Rev. 8. McHenry assumed pastoral charge until 1859, when he 
was succeeded by Rev. G. Roth. In June of that year the first 
Sunday School was organized in the Mercersburg Church, with 
Mr. Samuel King as Superintendent. Pastor Roth closed his 
work in 1862, and there was another vacancy of a year or more 
during which many of the members, having become discouraged 
by long and frequent vacancies, left St. John’s and went to other 
churches in town, believing that their own here would never 
succeed. 

But in the summer of 1863 a new era was begun in the his- 
tory of the congregation. A young man from the Seminary at 
Gettysburg, Rev. A. M. Whetstone, became pastor and infused 
new hope and life into the congregation. At his coming he found 
25 members, but in the 9 years of his pastorate he succeeded in 
raising the membership to 120. One of the forward steps of 
pastor Whetstone was the location of the residence of the pastor 
in Mercersburg. Hitherto the congregation had been served from 
Greencastle, St. Thomas, McConnellsburg and Clearspring. But 
now the pastor was located at Mercersburg and the congregation 
began to take on new life. In the spring of 1867 the growth 
of the congregation seemed to justify a relocation and a new church. 
The present location, the best in town, was decided upon and a 
lot 200 feet square was purchased for $820.00, and a new church 
was built at a cost of about $10,000. It is Romanesque in style, 
36 by 60 feet, a brick building with a very tasteful spire, and seats 
about 400. The corner stone was laid July 20, 1867, and it was 
dedicated with impressive ceremonies, July 5, 1868. 

In 1871 Rev. Whetstone resigned and was succeeded in 1872 
by Rev. A. J. Hesson. His ministry was a very fruitful one and 
the congregation continued to grow. McConnellsburg had with- 
drawn from the pastorate in 1866 and Loudon in 1875, when 
Mercersburg took another forward step and declared itself sus- 
taining. In the summer of 1876 the present beautiful and com- 
modious parsonage was built at a cost of about $5,000. In the 
summer of 1880 the church was repainted and refrescoed, making 
the property one of the most attractive in the Cumberland Valley. 

In 1881 ill health compelled the resignation of pastor Hesson, 
and he was succeeded in August of the same year by Rev. M. L. 
Culler, D. D., of Martinsburg, W. Va., a most faithful and godly 
man, whose work was most wonderfully blessed in the salvation 
of souls. Dr. Culler continued his blessed relationship here until 
October 1, 1890. 

He was succeeded by Rev. L. A. Mann, D. D., who preached 


388 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


his introductory sermon the first Sunday in December, 1890. 
During his faithful pastorate of 6 years and 10 months, 183 adults 
were received into the communion of the church. He closed his 
work here with this entry in the church record: ““What the spirit- 
ual results of my ministry here have been, God only knows.” 

Rev. R. F. Fetterolf became pastor February 1, 1898, and 
continued as pastor seven and a half years. During this time the 
church was remodeled and enlarged; a pipe organ was installed; 
new pews, electric lights and leaded glass windows were put in 
the church; and a Sunday School room 30 by 45 was added at a 
cost of $6,800. During this pastorate, Trinity Lutheran Church, 
Lehmasters, Was organized from material formerly in St. John’s 
Church and was connected with a separate pastorate. 

Rev. Fetterolf was succeeded April 1, 1906, by Rev. G. G. 
M. Brown, who died one year later in the faithful discharge of 
duty. Rev. J. E. Harms, now pastor of St. John’s, Hagerstown, 
Md., accepted a call to the work here, January 1, 1908, and after 
a short but very successful pastorate, resigned June 4, 1911. He 
Was succeeded by Rev. H. W. Snyder September 1, 1911, who 
after splendid work and making many friends here resigned 
on January 17, 1915. He was succeeded by Rev. W. M. 
Allison, May 1,1915. During the pastorate of Rev. Allison, an 
Infant Department and two adult class rooms were added to the 
Sunday School building, making it very complete in all its appoint- 
ments, and making that of St. John’s one of the best village church 
plants in the Synod. Pastor Allison resigned March 13, 1918, and 
was succeeded October 1, 1918, by Rev. E. A. Repass, Ph. D., 
from the South, who continued to serve until March 1, 1924. On 
November 4, 1928, after improvements to the church property 
costing approximately $4000, a service of rededication was held. 
Rey. H. W. Snyder, D. D., a former pastor, preached the sermon, 
after which the pastor secured from the congregation cash and 
subscriptions covering the entire cost of repairs. 

The Rev. G. E. Miller, the present pastor, entered upon his 
duties here March 1, 1925. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 389 


REV Heel BOTO 
Pastor oF LuTHERAN CHuRcH, Mt. Houuy Sprineas, PA. 


Rev. C. F. Floto was born 
March 25th, 1858, in Berlin, 
Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 
the son of August D. and Rose 
Ann Floto. He entered the min- 
istry in the Evangelical Associa- 
tion in the year 1883; after serv- 
ing seven years he transferred to 
the Lutheran Church, was re- 
ceived on his credentials by the 
East Ohio Synod in the year 
1891, and served the following 
charges in the East Ohio Synod: 
West Brookfield, Stark County, 
Ohio; Pleasant City, Geurnsey 
County, Ohio; Reedsburg, Wayne 
County, Ohio; a second pastorate 
at Pleasant City. In the Alle- 
gheny Synod: Hooversville, Som- 
set County, Pennsylvania; St. Stephen’s Church, Cumberland, 
Maryland. In the West Pennsylvania Synod: Bendersville, 
Adams County, Pennsylvania; Biglerville, Adams County, Penn- 
sylvania; Hellam, York County, Pennsylvania; Goldsboro and 
Mt. Zion, York County, Pennsylvania; Mt. Holly Springs, Cum- 
berland County, Pennsylvania. 





EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH 
MT. HOLLY, PA. 


Rive C2 he kuoTo, PAsTor 


The desire for a Lutheran Church at Mt. Holly Springs and 
also at Boiling Springs was made known to the West Pennsylvania 
Synod at its annual meeting at Carlisle, Pa., by a few faithful 
brethren as representatives from each of the above named towns. 
Favorable action was taken by Synod, by authorizing the Cum- 
berland Valley Conference to appoint a committee to organize 
congregations in these two towns. This committee consisted of 
Revs. L. A. Gotwald, H. R. Fleck and C. 8. Albert, who organized 
sald congregations October 13, 1872. 


390 History oF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Twenty-two members constituted the charter membership of 
its organization at Mt. Holly Springs. 

From this beginning until the Spring of 1873 preaching 
services were conducted by pastors appointed by the Cumberland 
Valley Conference. A committee authorized by Joint Council, 
consisting of three laymen, visited the Seminary at Gettysburg 
to secure a student as pastor; accordingly, the first service to be 





LUTHERAN CHurRCH, Mr. Hoiiy SprRINGs, PA. 


conducted with this object in view, took place March 9th, 1878, 
and its sermon was preached by licentiate Abram G. Fastnacht. 
He was elected pastor of its charge March 16, 1873, and a call 
was received and accepted April 4th, 1873. 


The first and newly elected pastor had not finished his course 
in Seminary, but supplied the charge every two weeks. On the 
10th of June, 1873, the pastor of this charge was married to Miss 
Mary E. Warren of Gettysburg and by June 27th they were at 
home in their new parish at Mt. Holly Springs. <A lot was pur- 
chased and the corner stone for a new church was laid August 19, 
1873, by the pastor; the sermon on this occasion was preached by 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 391 


Rev. C.8. Albert, D. D., of Carlisle, based on these words “Except 
the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’ 
Psalm 127.:1. 

By December 28, 1873, the basement of the church was com- 
pleted and dedicated to the worship of the Triune God, the sermon 
at the time of this hopeful event was preached by the Rev. J. 8. 
Brown, D. D., President of the Theological Seminary at Gettys- 
burg, based on these words of Holy Writ: ‘‘Why all this waste?” 
The dedication offering amounted to $730.00. 

Special meetings were conducted during the fall and winter 
seasons, with blessed results, the membership being increased in 
Mt. Holly from 21 to 53. 

The strenuous efforts along all lines of church work put 
forth by the first pastor in this newly formed charge developed a 
throat affection that did not yield to careful medical treatment; 
and hence his resignation took effect October Ist, 1875. The fol- 
lowing is the list of pastors: 

Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, April, 1873, to October, 1875; 

Rev. A. H. Aughe, March, 1876, to March, 1878; 


Rev. M. 8. Cressman, July, 1878, to May, 1882; 

Rev. M. D. Gaver, July, 1882, to May, 1890; 

Rev. M. G. G. Scherer, November, 1890, to September, 1893; 
Rev. J. E. E. Zerger, February, 1894, to June, 1897; 

Rev. R. W. Mottern, July, 1897, to January, 1901; 

Rev. W. I. Redcay, November, 1901, to November, 1908; 
Rev. G. D. Gross, one year; 

Rev. E. H. Gerhart, December, 1910, to March, 1914; 

Rev. Wm. H. Dolbeer, April, 1914, to April, 1920; 


Rev. J. W. Wolfe, June, 1920, to April, TO228 

Rev. J. E. Maurer, August, 1922, to October, 1924; 

Rev. C. F. Floto, February, 1925— 

It was during the pastorate of Rev. M.S. Cressman an effort 
was made in the spring of 1881 to complete the church; and on 
the 13th day of November, 1881, the auditorium of the church 
stood completed, and the pastor was assisted in the worship of 
dedication by Rev. J. H. Menges who preached the sermon; and 
sufficient funds were secured to pay off all indebtedness. 

Rev. M. D. Gaver pushed to completion the erection of a 
fine brick parsonage, which he occupied in the fall of 1889. 

By a congregational vote the Church of Mt. Holly Springs 
separated from Boiling Spring in October, 1890; and the first 
pastor to be installed after the division of the charge was the Rev. 
M. G. G. Scherer, who took charge in November, 1890, and was 
installed by the Rev. W. E. Stahler, of Shippensburg, December 
21st, 1890. 

This congregation celebrated its Golden Jubilee from August 
12 to 16th, inclusive, 1923. The following six ex-pastors were 
present and took part in the Anniversary Program: Rev. A. G. 


392 History oF Wurst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Fastnacht, D. D., First Pastor, York, Pa.; Rev. M. G. G. Scherer, 
D. D., Secretary of the Executive Board of the United Lutheran 
Church in America, New York City; Rev. M. 8. Cressman, D. 
D., Lewistown, Pa.; Rev. Wm. I. Redcay, D. D., Secretary West 
Pennsylvania Synod, Hanover, Pa.; Rev. E. H. iGemnnen DED 
Shamokin, Pa.; Rev. J. W. Wolfe, Williamstown, Pa. 

During the past fifty years only two pastors of this congre- 
gation have passed on into Life: Rev. A. H. Aughe and Rev. Wm. 
H. Dolbeer. 

The Lutheran Church of Mt. Holly Springs looks back over 
the past and thanks God. She looks forward with the faith and 
devotion of her fathers and takes courage. 





REV? JOHNSEEN RY EEN 
Pastor or St. Pauwu’s LuTHERAN CHURCH 
New CUMBERLAND, Pa. 


On June 2, 1897, John Henry 
Lehn was born in the City of 
York, Pennsylvania, the eldest 
child of William Henry and Fan- 
nie Elizabeth Lehn. Rev. AI- 
bert Bell, D. D., baptized him 
in infancy and also confirmed 
him in St. Luke’s Lutheran 
Church, York, on Easter Sunday 
of April 7, 1912. In 1915 he 
transferred his membership to 
Zion Lutheran Church of the 
same city, Rev. G. Albert Getty, 
DeDFekactor 

His primary education was 
completed in the place of his 
birth, all the years of which 
were spent in the local grammar 
schools with the exception of 
two years in which he went to the parochial school of St. John’s 
Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod, where he was sent for 
his spiritual edification and where he was thoroughly indoctrinated 
in Luther’s Smaller Catechism, being under the necessity of re- 
citing portions of it from memory in German and in English 
every school day. Was graduated from the York High School 
in the Class of 1915, and entered Gettysburg College in the fall 
of the same year. Received the degree of A. B. from our “‘Battle- 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 505 


field Institution” in the Class of 1920, having earned class honors 
in Junior and Senior years, and having spent a year during the 
term of 1917-1918 to recoup his financial interests. In his Senior 
year at Gettysburg he became personal assistant to Dr. Charles 
F. Sanders of the Department of Philosophy. Entering our Theo- 
logical Seminary at Gettysburg in the autumm of 1920, he was 
graduated in the Class of 1923, with the B. D. degree. 

The summer of 1921 he spent as supply pastor of the Spry- 
Windsor Park Charge in York County. Most of the summer of 
1922 found him in the pulpit of Zion Lutheran Church, Lebanon. 
He was licensed on the evening of Wednesday, October the 11th, 
at the 98th session of the West Pennsylvania Synod in Hanover, 
in 1922. In February, 1923. he was elected to the pastorate of 
Dickinson Charge, West Pennsylvania Synod, where he continued 
to serve until November 1, 1924, when he became pastor of St. 
Paul’s Lutheran Church of New Cumberland, Pa. His ordination 
took place in his home city of York on the evening of October 
10th, 1928, when Synod met in Union Lutheran Church. 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
NEW CUMBERLAND, PA. 


Rey. JoHN Henry Lenn, Pastor 


In May, 1909, the Cumberland Valley Conference of the West 
Pennsylvania Synod met in the New Market end of the West 
Fairview charge. The local Lutheran church owes its inception 
to several facts most vividly impressed upon the members of 
Conference at that time. 
First of all, they were sur- 
prised to find the majority 
of the members of the New 
Market church, in whose 
homes they were enter- 
tained, living in New Cum- 
berland. Second, the erec- 
tion of so many new houses 
called their attention to 
the fact that New Cumber- 
land was a community with 
a large future and that the 
center of population was 
eradually growing away 
from New Market. Third, 
the brethren were convinc- 
ed of the fact that New Sr. Pauw’s LUTHERAN CHURCH 
Market is at an inconven- New CuMBERLAND, Pa. 
ient distance from New 





394 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Cumberland. This was most vividly impressed by the prevalence 
of a heavy spring downpour. Accordingly, the Conference went 
on record, urging the Synod to investigate the advisability of 
establishing a church in the rapidly growing section of New 
Cumberland. 

Under the leadership of Rev. A. G. Wolf, St. Paul’s Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran Church of New Cumberland was organized, May 1, 
1910. The path of true love never did run smooth, and the little 
Church was wafted about hither and yon on the waves of cir- 
cumstance. First they worshiped in the Elkwood School House, 
then in the Council Chamber, finally in the High Schoo! Building. 

With a great faith as their strongest and almost only asset, 
the little congregation of thirty-five members purchased a plot, 
the present site, at the corner of Bridge Street and Fifth Ave. 
Ground was broken for the erection of a chapel, August 9, 1910. 
The sacred fellowship had grown to fifty-one members when the 
chapel was dedicated February 26, 1911. The cost of the com- 
pleted structure was approximately six thousand dollars. 

Under the stress of a growing dissatisfaction that St. Paul’s 
could not be like the other town churches, owing to the preaching 
arrangements with West Fairview, the congregation petitioned 
Synod that they be granted permission to withdraw from the 
West Fairview Charge. 

The West Pennsylvania Synod looked with favor on their 
request, and Rev. David 8. Martin was called to the New Cum- 
berland pulpit, September 30, 1917. 

Under the able ministries of its faithful pastors the congrega- 
tion had grown so rapidly that the little chapel was no longer 
adequate to meet the increasing need. On February 10, 1918, 
the congregation voted to enlarge and remodel the little building 
into a modern Sunday Schoo! chapel. The corner-stone of the 
present edifice was laid April 7, 1918, and dedicated November 
24, 1918, at a cost of eight thousand dollars. 

The total indebtedness was liquidated April 1, 1923. With 
a comfortable balance in the Building Fund Treasury as a ‘‘nest 
ege,”’ the congregation is looking forward to a further enlarge- 
ment of the present church structure in the near future. 

Rey. D. 8. Martin resigned March 1, 1921, and was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Howard K. Hilner, March 20, 1921. He con- 
tinued to serve the congregation until August 20, 1924, and was 
succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. John Henry Lehn, who 
assumed the pastorate here November 1, 1924. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 395 
REVeCHARVEY BICKEL 
Pastor oF THE New FRANKLIN CHARGE 


Rey. Harvey Bickel was born 
at Ottsville, Bucks County, Penn- 
sylvania, son of Simon and Bar- 
bara (Flagler) Bickel. His par- 
ents and grandparents were Luth- 
erans, maintaining their member- 
ship in the Nockamixon Lutheran 
Church located at Ferndale, Pa. 

When a boy, he attended 
church services and Sunday 
School at the Nockamixon Luth- 
eran Church and was confirmed 
in 1894 by Rev. Samuel S. Diehl. 

He attended public school at 
Ottsville and in 1899 entered 
Gettysburg Academy at Gettys- 
burg. After completing the 
course in the Academy, he en- 
tered Gettysburg College and 
graduated with the class of 1905. The same year entered Gettys- 
burg Seminary and graduated in May, 1908. 

He pursued the classical course in college; played on the 
college football team for four years, and took an active interest 
in class football and baseball; was elected associate editor of the 
Spectrum; was a member of the Phrenakosmian Literary Society. 

He was licensed by the Kast Pennsylvania Synod in October, 
1907, at the meeting held at Asbury Park, N. J.; was ordained by 
the West Pennsylvania Synod in 1908, at the meeting held in St. 
Mark’s Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa. 

While a Senior in Seminary he received a call from the Upper 
Bermudian Pastorate in Adams County, Pa. The call was ac- 
cepted and after graduation exercises in Seminary he engaged in 
the active work as pastor about June Ist, 1908. During this 
pastorate a new church building was erected at Goodyear, Pa., 
and dedicated free of debt. The pastor and people felt greatly 
rewarded for their labors. 

In the year 1911 he resigned as pastor of the Upper Bermudian 
pastorate. <A call was received and accepted from St. Andrew’s 
Lutheran Congregation, Philadelphia, where he took up the work 
on March 15, 1911. While serving as pastor of St. Andrew’s, he 
was united in marriage to Ivah C. Rohrbach, of Topton, Pa. The 
wedding ceremony was performed at the bride’s home by the 
bride’s uncle, the Rev. P. C. Croll, D. D., of Beardstown, IIL., 
on June 27th, 1911. 





396 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


After laboring in the St. Andrew’s Mission Church for a little 
over two years a congenial pastorate was closed and a new field 
occupied at Lockport, N. Y., on July ist, 1913. 

After laboring in this field for almost two years a call was 
received and accepted from the Mt. Bethel pastorate in the Hast 
Pennsylvania Synod. He moved to the parsonage at Stone 
Church, Pa., on April 15th, 1915, and continued as pastor until 
October 30, 1922. 

On November Ist, 1922, he moved to New Franklin and as- 
sumed the active duties as pastor of the New Franklin Charge. 
Solomon’s Lutheran Church, of Grindstone Hill, at the present 
time is contemplating the remodeling of the church building. 





SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, MARION, PA. 
(New Franklin Charge) 


Rev. Harvey BickEL, PASTOR 





SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, MARION, Pa. 


The old “White Church’, as the Salem Lutheran Church 
north of Marion is usually called, was built in 1828. It is one of 
the oldest Lutheran churches in this community, and before its 
remodeling in about 1850, it was almost colonial in type. 

The church was built by the Reformed and Lutheran Con- 
gregations of Marion. However, we do not know how these 
congregations became organized or when. About the year 1812 
a German Reformed minister by the name of Jonathan Rahauser 
held services under the trees near where the church stands, and 
during the next few years the services were probably held in a 
log schoolhouse nearby. We are told that later a log church stood 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 397 


not far from where the present church stands, but nothing definite 
can be learned about it. 

Before the Salem congregation 
united with the New Franklin 
charge, or the Fayetteville charge 
as it was then called, in 1849, 
it, in all probability, had no 
pastor regularly, as it is not ac- 
counted for in the minutes of the 
Synod. It possibly was supplied 
by ministers from the neighbor- 
ing districts. 

We know with a degree of cer- 
tainty, however, of three minis- 
ters conducting services in the 
church before 1849. They were: 
Rev. John Ruthrauff, Sr., who 
was pastor at St. Thomas and 
later in Greencastle; Rev. Reuben Mr. Merve B. HArer 
Weiser, who was pastor at St. WRITER OF THIS SKETCH 
Thomas after Rev. Ruthrauff; 
and Rev. Peter Sham, who was also pastor at St. Thomas and 
ater at Grindstone Hill. 


The church was united with the New Franklin charge while 
Rey. Augustus Wedekind, a young man just out of the Gettys- 
burg Theological Seminary, was pastor. The charge then con- 
sisted of Fayetteville, Greenvillage, Grindstone Hill and Marion. 
Greenvillage soon withdrew and St. Thomas took its place. After 
a number of years St. Thomas, and later Fayetteville, withdrew. 
and the charge was left as it now is, composed of Grindstone Hill 
and Marion. 


In 1887 the Reformed congregation withdrew from the union 
church and since then the Lutherans have occupied it alone. 


Since uniting with the charge the congregation has been 
served by the following pastors: Rev. Wedekind, 1849-50; Rev. 
David H. Focht, father of ex-Congressman Focht, 1850-54; Rev. 
George Sill, 1855-59; Rev. Solomon McHenry, 1859-66; Rev. J. 
K. Miller, 1866-69; Rev. A. C. Felker, 1869-71; Rev. A. H. Shertz, 
1872-86; Rev. D. 8. Lentz, 1887-94; Rev. M. S. Romig, 1894-98; 
Rev. D. R. Becker, 1898-1906; Rev. A. B. Miller, 1906-08; Rev. J. 
J. Minemier, 1909-10; Rev. A. D. Potts, D. D., Ph. D., 1911-19; 
Rev. Wm. Hesse, D. D., 1920-22; Rev. Harvey Bickel, 1922—. 


During its history the church has made progress and the 
congregation today is well organized and the church is well sup- 
ported. Although not large, yet the church is active for a rural 
church and exerts a wide influence. It has a good Sunday School 
and a strong Woman’s Missionary Society. 





398 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The old church can boast of a goodly number of her sons 
and daughters who have gone out and entered the different pro- 
fessions of life. So far as we can learn the only one who has 
entered the Christian ministry is Rev. Glenn T. Hafer, who 
eraduated from Gettysburg College in 1920 and from the Theo- 
logical Seminary at Gettysburg in May, 1924. During the winter 
of 1920-21 he taught in the Shippensburg High School. He was 
licensed by the West Pennsylvania Svnod at its convention in 
York in October, 1923, and accepted the pastorate of the Lower 
Chanceford Charge in June, 1924. 


SOLOMON’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
GRINDSTONE HILL, PA. 


(New Franklin Charge, Pa.) 


Rev. Harvey Bicke., Pastor 





SOLOMON’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, GRINDSTONE HIL1, Pa. 


The first settlers came into Franklin County about A. D. 
1736: | 

These were Scotch-Irish and Germans who came from Lan- 
easter, York and other eastern counties of Pennsylvania. One of 
the earliest settlements was that of the Germans known as the 
Grindstone Hill settlement. 

These people loved their church and made early provision 
for the permanent establishment of the ordinances of religion in 
their midst. 

As has been customary for many centuries the Lutherans 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 399 


and Reformed united in their efforts to secure a suitable place to 
build a house of worship. For this purpose fifty-one acres and 
one hundred and forty-four perches were reserved. 

The official record of deeds for Franklin County, Vol. 4, p. 
385, states that on July first, 1772, this tract of land was deeded 
for permanent Church, school and burying ground purposes by 
Peter Bonbreak and his wife Catharine Bonbreak. 

There was no charge made for this land but the church people 
were required to bear the expense of making the survey and exe- 
cuting the deed which expense amounted to the sum of seven 
pounds. | 

During the early years of the settlement at this place an oc- 
casional sermon was preached by Lutheran ministers passing 
through the Cumberland Valley but the names of these ministers 
or the number of such sermons preached cannot be ascertained. 
There is no doubt though that owing to the method of travel at 
this early date and the dangers attending same, these visits were 
very infrequent. 

It seems certain however that these visits did stimulate a 
desire in the hearts of the people for regular preaching and efforts 
were soon made to secure a pastor. We must remember though 
that these people were very poor and that they lived in an isolated 
and frontier section of the country with many miles of wilderness 
between them and the older settlements in eastern Pennsylvania 
and Maryland. Also that ministers of our church were few in 
number at that time so this desire was not easily gratified. 

However, the Rev. John George Bager was obtained as the 
first visiting pastor, about 1765. He resided at Conewago in 
what was then York County, about forty miles from the Grind- 
stone Hill settlement. Nevertheless he visited the settlement 
twice a year at first and more frequently later, remaining a few 
weeks each time preaching the gospel of our Lord and adminis- 
tering the sacraments to the people, and organized the Church in 
1766. 

Before the first church was built he preached in several of 
the houses and barns of the settlers and sometimes in a grove of 
small trees then growing on the land where the church now stands, 
the settlers coming together from miles around to hear him pro- 
claim the gospel message. 

The good effect of Rev. Bager’s preaching and pastoral visits 
must have been great for in about a year after his first visit the 
Lutherans and Reformed of the settlement united in erecting a 
house of worship. 

The building was made of heavy logs hewed on two sides and 
sunken into each other at the corners so as to fit together as 
closely as possible and the crevices filled with chips and mortar. 
The roof being made of clapboards. There were a few panes of 
glass inserted along the walls to admit light. Slabs laid across 


400 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the joists served as seats. A small table was made for the use of 
the minister instead of a pulpit. 

This building was consecrated by the title ‘‘SSolomon’s Evan- 
gelical Lutheran and German Reformed Church” and our fathers 
rejoiced to worship God in 1t for about twelve years before a floor 
was laid, pews made and stoves bought for heating it. 

Rev. Bager was succeeded by the Rev. John George Young 
in about 1772; he lived at Hagerstown, Md., which isabout eighteen 
miles from here and visited here at least once every eight weeks. 
It is said some of the young people from here attended catechise at 
Hagerstown where Rev. Young brought together for confirmation 
the catechumens of his widely extended charge. 

Rev. Young’s salary consisted of a little money, some grain, 
vegetables, etc., subscribed by the people of the community as 
they were able to give. These things were collected and taken 
to the home of the pastor. 

The Revolution interfered very much with the work of the 
church about this time, war being the theme of conversation and 
absorbing the attention of every one and many fathers and sons 
marched from the Grindstone Hill settlement to join the American 
Army. 

Rev. Young resigned in about 1783 and was followed in 
1784 by the Rev. John Michael Steck. At this time Grindstone 
Hill, Jacob’s Church at Chambersburg and Scherer’s Church at 
Pleasant Hall formed one charge and were the only Lutheran 
congregations in Franklin County; and Grindstone Hill being the 
largest of these, Rev. Steck lived near the church and preached 
here every four weeks. He resigned in 1788 and was succeeded 
in 1789 by the Rev. Anthony Ulrich Ludgen, who lived in Cham- 
bersburg and served the congregation there together with Grind- 
stone Hill, Scherer’s and Shippensburg, preaching here every four 
weeks. He resigned in 1794, and in 1795 the Rev. John Ruth- 
rauff took charge of this congregation and served it in connection 
with Greencastle, Waynesboro and other places until 1815. He 
resided in Greencastle and preached here every four weeks. 

He recorded thirty-seven communicant members in 1801; 
this is the earliest record we have of the number of members be- 
longing to this congregation. 

On the first of May, 1815, there were sold 33 acres and some 
perches of the church land, leaving 18 acres and 16 perches which 
are still owned by the two congregations worshipping here. 

In 1816 the Rev. John Frederick Moeller took this charge 
and served until 1829. He preached here once every two weeks; 
and after he left the charge was vacant for about two years, when 
the Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, D. D., took charge of this congrega- 
tion in 1831 together with the one at Chambersburg where he 
lived. He preached here once every two weeks, alternating his 
sermons in the English and German languages, this being the 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE AOL 


first use of the English language in preaching at this place. He 
also introduced night services, and organized the first Sunday 
School, which flourished during the time he was pastor here. 

There were now more than one hundred members of the church 
at this place. The old log church was becoming dilapidated and 
in a ruinous condition and was too small to accommodate the 
congregation. So the two congregations, Evangelical Lutheran 
and German Reformed, agreed to build a new church. 

There seems to have been some contention as to who held 
the legal title to the church land up to this time as Vol. 15, p. 
605, Record of deeds of Franklin County tells us that on Jan. 20, 
1832, a joint deed was agreed upon between the German Reformed 
and the Evangelical Lutherans stating that the Lutherans should 
be secured in their rights in the Solomon’s Church at Grindstone 
Hill and the land belonging thereto to have and to hold the un- 
divided half of said piece of land with the improvements and 
buildings for church and burying ground purposes forever, thus 
deciding all dispute on the question. 

In May, 1883, the corner-stone for the new church was laid. 
The building is of brick, forty by fifty feet, with the pulpit at 
one end and entrance at other and will seat comfortably about 
three hundred persons and in addition has a gallery around three 
sides which will seat about two hundred and fifty persons. 

It is one of the old land marks of the county, which the citi- 
zens may well view with pride especially those whose names are 
enrolled as its members. 

It was dedicated to the service of the Triune God Sunday, 
November 24, 18338, and cost about three thousand dollars. 

On account of ill health the Rev. Dr. Kurtz was obliged to 
resign his pastorate here about four months before the building 
was completed. He was succeeded by the Rev. John N. Hoff- 
man, who served here in connection with the congregation at 
Chambersburg, where he resided, until 1835, when he resigned 
and was followed immediately by the Rev. Jeremiah Harpel of 
Greencastle, where he also preached, until 1837, after which this 
place was vacant until 1839, when the Rev. Jacob Martin took 
charge of this congregation together with the one at Greencastle 
for one year, When he resigned and the Rev. Peter Sahm took the 
charge and served it until 1845. 

In 1842 a Sunday School was again organized here and is 
still a valuable aid in the work of the church. 

The Rev. Michael Eyster accepted a call from this place and 
Greencastle and preached here until 1847 when he was succeeded 
by the Rev. Levi T. Wiliams. At this time Grindstone Hill, 
Fayetteville and Greenvillage formed the Charge. Rev. Williams 
resigned in 1849 and was followed by the Rev. Augustus C. Wede- 
kind. At this time the congregation at Marion united with the 
charge. Rev. Wedekind resigned at the end of one year; and in 


402 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


October, 1850, the Rev. David H. Focht came and remained until 
1854. In 1850 the German language was used in only one service 
out of four and in 1854 its use was discontinued entirely in the 
service here. 

Rev. Focht resigned and preached his farewell sermon Sep- 
tember 17, 1854, and to him we are indebted for much of the history 
of Grindstone Hill to this time. 

The Rev. G. Sill was the next pastor, called in 1855. He 
remained about four years when the Rev. 8. McHenry was pastor 
for about seven years. The Rev. J. K. Miller succeeded him and 
was here about two years followed by the Rev. Felker for about 
two years. 

In 1871 the Rev. Alexander Hamilton Shertz became pastor 
of the charge, which then consisted of Fayetteville, St. Thomas, 
Strasburg, Marion and this place. Rev. Shertz lived in Cham- 
bersburg, where the charge owned a parsonage at this time. He 
served the charge for about fourteen years, and was followed in 
1887 by the Rev. D. 8. Lentz, who was pastor for about six years 
and was succeeded in 1894 by the Rev. M. 8. Romig. 

About this time a parsonage was built at New Franklin by 
the Grindstone Hill and Marion congregations, which now com- 
pose what is known as the New Franklin Charge. Rev. Romig 
remained about four years, and was succeeded in 1899 by the Rev. 
D. R. Becker, who was pastor for about seven years and was 
followed in 1907 by the Rev. A. B. Miller, who was here about 
one and one-half years and was followed by the Rev. J. J. Minne- 
mier, Who was here about one and one-half years. 

The Rev. A.-D.-Botts# DADs 
Ph. D., was called by the charge 
in 1910 and began his work here 
January 1, 1911, and labored 
faithfully for more than eight 
vears, When he was taken fatally 
ill in January, 1919, and was 
called to serve in that higher and 
better life, June 11, 1919. 

The charge was vacant after 
Rey. Pott’s death until Novem- 
ber, 1920, when the Rev. Wm. 
Hesse came and remained about 
one and one-half years. 

The Rev. Harvey Bickel ac- 
cepted a call to the charge, 
November 1, 1922, and is the 

Mr. Joun REICHARD present pastor. He has an ac- 
HISTORIAN tive congregation here of 280 
communicant members which he 

having served faithfully for nearly a year at a salary from the 








CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 403 


charge of $1400, at a congregational meeting held during his 
vacation in August, 19238, this was increased to $1500 for the next 
year. 

This grand old church is in excellent condition, free of debt, 
and is continually growing in numbers, and we trust in grace. 

There is now being planned by the two congregations wor- 
shipping here a thorough remodeling of the building, which we 
trust may be effected in the very near future. 


THE CEMETERY 


It is said there were a number of persons buried here before 
the first church was built and at that time the graves were pro- 
tected from being molested by wild beasts by cutting limbs from 
trees and throwing them over the graves or by making a canopy 
of white linen over them. 

Later the cemetery was inclosed by a clapboard or paling 
fence; this was replaced about 1814 by a stone wall built of sand- 
stones quarried from the ‘Grindstone Hill,’ which also furnished 
the settlers many stones for their buildings. 

The oldest graves were marked with such stones, many of 
them without any inscription and some inscribed with the name 
and date of death of person buried. The oldest of these that we 
are able to locate was erected in 1771, and there are many from 
that date until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the 
first marble stone was erected in 1806. This was a great curiosity 
at that time, and it is said people came many miles to look upon it. 

The cemetery contained about one-half acre when the first 
fence was built and as this gradually filled, was enlarged until it 
now contains about three acres, of which about two and one-half 
acres are filled. 

A portion of the old stone fence still stands but the part 
along the Waynesboro and Chambersburg road has been replaced 
by an iron fence which helps improve the appearance of the yard. 


AOA. History oF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Jae IDE ibs ABM MedbiONe. ledel IDE 
PASTOR OF THE NEw KINGSTON CHARGE 


Mr. Treibley was born of 
Christian parents and was re- 
ligiously trained in the Calvanis- 
tic faith from childhood; coming 
under Lutheran influences, he 
united with the Lutheran Church 
when seventeen years of age and 
was confirmed by Rev. J. A. 
Adams. 

When five years old he en- 
tered the Public Schools. At 
twelve, his father sent him to the 
Elysburg Academy where he 
pursued a course of studies 
through three sessions. When 
sixteen years of age he taught 
Public School for one year. In 
the Spring of 1881 he entered 
_ Missionary Institute, now Sus- 
quehanna University, and was graduated in 1884. In the fall of 
the same year, he entered the Junior Class of Pennsylvania Col- 
lege, Gettysburg, Pa. and was graduated with the Class of 1886; 
entering the Theological Seminary, at Gettysburg, in the fall of 
that year he completed his Theological course in 1889 and was 
licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at New Oxford, Pa., 
in 1889 and ordained by the East Pennsylvania Synod at its 
meeting in 1889 at Steelton. 

He has served the following pastorates: The English Luth- 
eran Church at the City of Shenandoah, Pa., from July Ist, 1889; 
St. John’s Lutheran Church, Clearfield, Pa., from August Ist, 
1891, where he served fourteen years; at Elkins, West Virginia, 
from May Ist. 1905, where he served as a missionary for one year; 
the English Lutheran Church, Minersville, Pa., from May Ist, 
1906; St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Thompsonton, Pa., from 
June ist, 1911; he entered upon the pastorate of St. Steven’s Luth- 
eran Church, New Kingston, Pa., March Ist, 1918, and has con- 
tinued in this field until the present time. 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 405 


MT. ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PA. 


(New Kingston Charge) 
REV. Bot Ripley Pos Dare ASTOR 


No record of the history of Mt. Zion Congregation can be 
found. The Church was organized in 1835. The present church 
building is a large brick structure, remodeled several times and 
now quite modern in every respect; it 1s the second building in 
which this congregation has worshipped, but no accurate infor- 
mation can be secured concerning the date of building either the 
first or the second structure. 

When Mt. Zion Lutheran Church was organized, St. Steven’s 
and Mt. Zion became one pastorate and have remained so ever 
since. The succession of pastors, therefore, that have served this 
congregation is the same as that of St. Steven’s Lutheran Church. 


ST. STEVEN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
NEW KINGSTON, PA. 


(New Kingston Charge) 


Revels BelREtpimy, Pa. aPASTOR 





St. STEVEN’S LUTHERAN CHuRCH, NEw KINGSTON, PA. 


The data of the New Kingston Parish is meager. In 1911 
the church burnt down and with it all the church records. The 


406 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


organization was effected in 1795, the first regular pastor was 
Rev. B. Keller, who began his ministry in 1820. He was followed 
by Rev. A. Lochman, who took charge in 1825 and resigned in 
1827. Rev. Emanuel Keller served the pastorate from 1827 to 
1836. He was succeeded by Rev. A. Babb, 1836-1839. Rev. 
N. J. Stroh was the next pastor, from 1839 to 1845. 

During the pastorate of Rev. Stroh a lot of ground was do- 
nated to the congregation by the Kissinger estate for a new church 
and parsonage. Upon this plot was erected a stone church and 
a brick parsonage in 1848. 

Following this date the pastorate was served by the following: 
Rev. A. Bobb, 1845-1851; Rev. A. Height, 1851-1854; Rev. C. 
Nitterauer, 1854-1858; Rev. W. Kopp, 1858-1865; Rev. H. R. 
Fleck, 1865-1871; Rev. G. F. Sheafer, 1871-1873; Rev. D. Sell, 
1873-1875; Rev. D. Beckner, 1875-1877; Rev. G. H. Slaybaugh, 
1877-1881. 

After thirty-six years from the time of the building of the 
Stone Church, a new church building was erected on the same 
site in 1879. This church building was used until 1911 when it 
was destroyed by fire. 

Rev. H. R. Fleck became pastor the second time in 1881 and 
served for eighteen years, having been pastor six years before, 
his pastoral relationship to this church covered a period of almost 
a quarter of a century. 

Resuming the order of succession, Rev. H. D. Shimer was 
pastor from 1899-1905; Rev. J. W. Weeter, 1905-1907; Rev. J. E. 
Grubb, 1908-1912; Rev. J. K. Robb, 1912-1916; Rev. Paul Y. 
Livingston, 1916-1917; Rev. D. B. Treibley, Ph. D., the present 
pastor, from March Ist, 1918. 

After the church was destroyed by fire in 1911, the present 
handsome building was erected and dedicated in 1912. The cost 
was $30,000 and the church is entirely free from debt. This 
House of God stands as a monument to the faith and devotion of 
the members of this congregation. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 407 
REV. ELWOOD 8S. FALKENSTEIN 
Pastor oF St. Paut LuTHERAN CHURCH, NEWVILLE, Pa. 


Rey. Falkenstein was born in 
York County, on January 4, 
1898. He was confirmed at St. 
Luke’s Lutheran Church, York, 
Penna., by the Rev. Albert Bell, 
IDS Deepastor,on Varch 231913: 
He attended the York public 
schools, the York High School, 
Gettysburg College, A. B. degree, 
Class 1921, and Gettysburg Sem- 
inary, 1924. He was licensed by 
the Evangelical Lutheran Synod 
of West Pennsylvania to preach 
the gospel for one year from 
October 10, 1923; and was or- 
dained by the same Synod, Oc- 
tober 15, 1924, at St. Matthew’s 
Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa. 

Rev. Falkenstein was married 
on May 20th, 1924, to Ruth Matilda Diehl, daughter of Mr. 
Alexander Diehl, of York. He is a veteran of the World War, 
and served overseas. 








ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH, NEWVILLE, PENNA. 
Rev. EL.woop 8. FALKENSTEIN, Pastor 


The St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Congregation at New- 
ville was organized on April 5, 1879, with a membership of 
ninety-six. For several years they worshipped in rented quar- 
ters in what was called ‘Literary Hall.” This building was 
purchased in November, 1882, and used until the building of 
the present church. 

From the very first the congregation had the sympathy of 
the community. Thru the kindness of Dr. John Ahl and his 
mother, both members of the Presbyterian church, the congre- 
gation received a lot in the center of town, 42 by 70 ft. On 
April 3, 1900, ground was broken for the present structure. The 
corner-stone was laid on June 24, 1900, and on May 19, 1901, 
the church was dedicated. The sermons for this occasion were 
preached by Revs. T. O. Keister, and E. D. Weigle, D. D. 
The church is a two-story brick structure, with buff brick front. 


408 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The auditorium has a seating capacity of about 400. When 
built, the edifice was valued at $10,000. 


St: PAuL LUTHERAN .CHuRCH 
NEWVILLE, PA. 





The congregation owns a 
parsonage on Big Spring 
Avenue, valued at $5000. 
It was a gift of Miss Eliza 
Heagy, a Presbyterian wo- 
man. The interior of the 
parsonage was completely 
renovated during the past 
summer. 


The debt of the congre- 
gation was removed at Eas- 
ter, 1921. At no time did 
the congregation have finan- 
cial aid from outside sources. 
Efforts to enlist the sympa- 
thy of the Board of Exten- 
sion met with disappoint- 
ment, but the people went 
forward with their program 
in spite of this handicap. 
The membership does not 
boast of any moneyed men, 
but of sturdy laboring and. 
business people. It has not 
had a phenomenal increase 
in membership at any time, 
but it has been and still is 
erowilng. 


The congregation was organized with Rev. H. J. Watkins as 
pastor. He served from November 15, 1879, until September 2, 
1883. He was followed by Rey. 8S. A. Hedges, who served from 
August 26, 1883, until October 1, 1886. Rev. A. W. Lentz was 
the pastor from December 1, 1889, until September 30, 1893. 
Rev. J. J. Kerr served from July 1, 1894, until July, 1914. The 
Rev. Dan. Ketterman was pastor from July, 1914, until April, 
1918. Rev. H. L. Gerstmyer served from September, 1918, until 
November, 1923. The present pastor, Rev. Elwood 8. Falken- 
stein, has been serving since June 23, 1924. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 409 


REV JOHN ley) ENGIN S 
PASTOR OF ZION LUTHERAN CuurcH, NEWVILLE, Pa. 


The subject of this sketch was 
born in Mahanoy City, Pa., 
May 27, 1885, his parents being 
Richard T. and Sarah Jenkins. 
On March 31, 1901, he was con- 
firmed in the St. John’s Lutheran 
Church, Mahanoy City, Pa., by 
the Rev. Julius F. Seebach. He 
attended Gettysburg College, 
from which institution he grad- 
uated on June 15, 1910; with the 
degree of A. B.; his theological 
training was obtained at the 
Lutheran Theological Seminary, 
Gettysburg, Pa., from which in- 
stitution he graduated in May, 
1913. The East Pennsylvania 
Synod licensed him to preach at 
its convention held at Reading 
in October, 1912, and the same Synod ordained him at its conven- 
tion held at Asbury Park, N. J., in October of the following year. 

His first charge was St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Easton, 
Pa., which he served from August 1, 1913, until assuming the 
pastorate at Newville. 

He was married to Rosetta Barbara Knipple, daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Knipple, Hanover, Pa., at Silver Run, Md., 
on February 11, 1914. 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, NEWVILLE, PA. 
Rev. JoHN T. JENKINS, PASTOR 


The origin of Zion Lutheran Church, Newville, Pa., can be 
traced to the early Lutherans from Germany and Berks and Lan- 
caster counties who settled in what is now known as Mifflin town- 
ship. Revs. Jacob Goering, John G. Butler and Frederick D. 
Schaeffer served congregations in Carlisle and the adjacent terri- 
tory from 1775 to 1790 and probably gathered the nucleus from 
which the congregation was later formed. 


The earliest record book bears the date of 1797, but other 


410 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


knowledge indicates that the Lord’s Supper was administered 
and the gospel preached as early as 1795. For three years after 
its organization the congregation worshipped in a building owned 
conjointly with a Reformed congregation. The Lutheran con- 
eregation eventually absorbed the Reformed one. 


From 1814-1816 the congregation was a part of the Loysville 
charge; with the exception of these two years, from 1795 to 1820 
the congregation was a part of the Carlisle pastorate. Embracing 
Zion, Brick, Salem and Centreville churches the Newville charge 
was formed in 1820. One by one the various congregations with- 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, NEWVILLE, PA. 


drew until 1868, when Zion became self supporting. The earliest 
recorded salary, 1832, is two hundred dollars per annum. 

One of the most remarkable things in the history of the 
congregation occurred in 1832, when, after worshiping for a period 
of forty years in Mifflin township, a lot was purchased in Newville 
and the entire congregation moved from the country to the town 
without a loss of its identity. The location was changed, but 
the congregation remained the same. 

The congregation was incorporated on November 20, 18438. 


Until 1850 the Sunday morning service was preceded by a 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 411 


forty-five minute service of prayer and an explanation of a Psalm 
by the pastor. During the early years of the church, after a 
period of instruction in the catechism, a series of meetings was 
held, the most notable one being in 1876, When over two hundred 
were admitted into the membership of the church. In 1875 the 
congregation numbered three hundred, while in 1876 four hundred 
and eight communicant members were reported. This large mem- 
bership was reduced in 1879 to two hundred and fourteen on 
account of some differences within the church that resulted in 
the organization of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Newville, Pa. 


Seven young men have entered the ministry from the con- 
eregation: John Wild and David W. Watson, both of whom died 
during the period of preparation; Rev. John C. Lehman, who was 
born March 10, 1818, licensed to preach in 1841 and died at 
Newburg, Pa., May 31, 1883; Rev. Charles M. Klink, who was 
born January 6, 1822, licensed to preach in 1848, and died at 
Sandusky, Ohio, May 5, 1863; Rev. John F. Diener, who was 
born December 14, 1845, licensed to preach in 1870, and after- 
wards entered the Presbyterian ministry; Rev. William E. Brehm, 
who was born April 5, 1858, was licensed to preach in 1870, and 
afterwards entered the Congregational ministry; Rev. 8. Gring 
Heffelbower, who was born November 11, 1871, licensed to preach 
in 1893, at one time the President of Gettysburg College and now 
the occupant of the chair in philosophy at Carthage College, 
Carthage, Ll. 


Five young women of the congregation have become the 
wives of ministers: Miss Elizabeth Givlet became the wife of 
the pastor of the congregation at the time, Rev. Nicholas J. 
Stroh, in December, 1827; Miss Elizabeth Swoyer became the wife 
of the pastor of the congregation at the time, Rev. Edward Breid- 
enbaugh, on March 16, 1847; Miss Anna A. Wild became the 
wife of Rev. William F. Greaver on January 27, 1853; Miss Naomi 
Jane High married Rev. John F. Diener on January 7, 1869; Miss 
Sarah Swoyer became the wife of Rev. John Kistler on December 
LOM Sile 


The Sunday School was organized in 1838; the Women’s 
Missionary Society dates from September 25, 1882; the Mission 
Band, from May 14, 1886; the Young People’s Missionary Society, 
from September 10, 1892. 


Tue BUILDINGS 


In the course of its history three buildings have been used 
by the congregation. The first church was located in Mifflin 
township and was owned conjointly with a Reformed congregation. 
This church was built of white oak logs thirty-six feet long and 
thirty-two inches wide, with a door at the front and one at the 


412 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


side. It was built in 1795 and because the original owner of the 
ground upon which it was built was John Zeigler, the church was 
known as Zeigler’s Church. A gallery extended around three 
sides of the interior, the pulpit was of the wineglass style and was 
made of panels on which quaint and almost grotesque pictures 
were painted. This building was sold to a George Hostler, acting 
for a congregation of the Evangelical denomination, for $140, and 
was torn down and built closer to the North Mountain. 

Many of the members of the congregation having moved 
into the town, the cornerstone of a new church was laid at the 
corner of High St. and Cove Alley on August 1, 1833, the dedi- 
cation taking place on May 2, 1834. The cost of this church was 
$2474.60. Until 1839 six per cent. quit rent was paid on this 
lot to the Big Spring Presbyterian Church, Newville, Pa., which 
in 1744 had obtained a special grant of land from the provincial 
authorities, a grant reissued in 1794 by the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania. 


When the third church was built the site again was changed. 
On June 21, 1863, a church built at the corner of Main and West 
Sts. was dedicated at a cost of $12,000. In this building the 
congregation at the present time worships. 


Improvements to this building have been made as follows: 
In 1884, at a cost of $1400, an altar with altar railing was built, 
a pulpit, altar chairs and carpet furnished, new windows were 
put in and the interior refrescoed; in 1889 the Sunday School 
Was repainted, new seats placed and new carpet furnished; in 
1900, at a cost of six thousand dollars, the church was completely 
renovated; in the summer of 1906 the Sunday School room was 
renovated at a cost of $244. 


The parsonage was purchased on March 9, 1857, at a cost 
of $2000, and was owned jointly by the Zion’s congregation and 
the congregation of the Brick Church. In 1868, when the con- 
eregation became self-supporting, the share of the Brick Church 
was purchased. 


THE PASTORS 


Rev. John Herbst, 1795-1801; Rev. Frederick Sanno, 1802- 
18138; Rev. John Frederick Osterloh, 1814-1816; Rev. Benjamin 
Keller, until 1820; Rev. J. Peter Hall, April 22, 1820-December 6, 
1822; Rev. George Heilig, January, 1824-1826; Rev. Nicholas J. 
Stroh, 1826-1832; Rev. David P. Rosenmiller, 1832-1840; Rev. 
John Heck, December, 1841-December 1, 1844; Rev. Edward 
Breidenbaugh, January 1, 1845-April 1, 1849; Rev. Sidney L. 
Harkey, D. D., April 1, 1849- April 1, 1852; Rev. Joshua Evans, 
May 15, 1852- November 30, 1860; Rev. Henry Baker, D. D., 
January, 1861-May, 1867; Rev. Harvey W. McKnight, De D., 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 413 


LL.D., July 1, 1867-November 1, 1870; Rev. Henry R. Fleck, 
April 1, 1871-April 1, 1872; Rev. Jacob A. Clutz, D. D., July 1, 
-1872-October 1, 1873; Rev. Horatio J. Watkins, April 1, 1874- 
May 1, 1879; Rev. Henry C. Holloway, D. D., August 1, 1879- 
January 1, 1884; Rev. H. H. Weber, D. D., supplied during three 
months of 1884; Rev. David B. Floyd, July 1, 1885-July 1, 1899; 
Rev. A. A. Kelly, October 1, 1899-December 15, 1904; Rev. George 
W. Nicely, D. D., February 1, 1905-July 31, 1908; Rev. Herbert 
H. Hartman, November 16, 1908-August 1, 1910; Rev. George N. 
Lauffer, D. D., December 1, 1910-December 31, 1914; Rev. Carl 
C. Rasmussen, 1915-1919; Rev. John T. Jenkins, May 1, 1919— 


REV EOE Ry Yo Hea GO) MB a 
PASTOR OF THE PEN MarR PASTORATE 


Rev. Harry F. Coffelt was born at Woodstock, Virginia. His 
collegiate education was secured at Roanoke College, which in- 
stitution he entered in the year 1900, and was graduated with 
the degree of A. B. in the year 1905. 


Entering the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, 
Pa., in the fall of that year, he completed his course in the spring 
of 1908. 


He accepted a call to the Pen-Mar pastorate and entered upon 
his service here October 19, 1908. He has continued to serve 
this charge during all his ministry and to the present time. 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, QUINCY, PA. 
(Pen-Mar Pastorate) 
Rev. Harry F. Corrent, PASTOR 


The old church stood near the Quincy Cemetery, and an iron 
plate on the door was marked with punch marks as follows, in- 
dicating probably the date of erection: J.W.—1808. The “J.W.” 
refers to John Wertz, who was born in September, 1829, and 
baptized January 1, 1830, by Rev. John Ruthrauff who resided 
at Greencastle and was pastor at Quincy, Grindstone Hill and 
Greencastle. 


At a later date Quincy was combined with Waynesboro, 
Jacob’s and Smithsburg, to form a charge. Among the early 


414 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


pastors were Revs. Cline, Conrad (at the time he was a student 
at Gettysburg Seminary), and John Heck. The latter became - 
pastor at a salary of $400 per year, and remained until 1856 or 
1857. A Rev. Campbell became pastor of the Quincy church 
alone about this time, but because of his southern sympathies he 
returned soon to Virginia. 

The new church was built in 1858. 


Rev. Dorsey followed Rev. Campbell about 1862 or 1863; 
he died a year or two later and was succeeded by Rev. Alfred 
Buhrman, a Methodist originally, about 1864 or 1865. Revs. 
Harkey, Roth, Bergstresser and Brown served the church suc- 
cessively. Under the pastorate of the last named the Quincy and 
Rouzerville Churches were combined to form a charge, since which 
time the records of pastorates of these two churches are the same. 


TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, ROUZERVILLE, PA. 
(Pen-Mar Charge) 


Rev. Harry F. Corrett, Pastor 


The corner-stone of the church building at Rouzerville bears 
the date, 1890. The Minutes of the West Pennsylvania Synod 
of 1889 state that ‘the Quincy congregation was supplied by H. 
G. Snyder, a student from the Seminary at Gettysburg.” And 
in the same year application was made and granted for Trinity 
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rouzerville, Franklin Co., Pa., 
to be received into the West Pennsylvania Synod, and to consti- 
tute a part of the Quincy Charge. Rev. G. G. M. Brown was 
called to the Quincey Pastorate December 2, 1889, and was in- 
stalled January 5, 1890, resigning February 1, 1891. 


He was succeeded by the Rev. E. E. Ide, who because he 
Was serving also another church, which was within the territory 
of the Maryland Synod where he himself was making his residence, 
refused to become a member of the West Pennsylvania Synod, 
and informed the President of the Synod that “he would offer 
his resignation before December 1, heey” 


Rev. J. A. Adams became pastor of the Quincy Charge May 
19, 1893, and continued until the time of his death, December 18, 
1896. Rev. R. W. Hazeltine served the pastorate less than one 
year, from November 11, 1897, to August 15, 1898. He was 
succeeded by Rev. W. C. Spayde, September 26, 1899, to February 
14, 1905; Rev. A. H. Shertz, July 5, 1905, to February 1, 1908; 
the present pastor, Rev. Harry F. Coffelt, entered upon this field 
October 19, 1908. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 415 


REV. J. FRANK HEILMAN, D. D. 


PastoR OF MremMorIAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, SHIPPENSBURG, PA. 


Dr. Heilman is a son of the 
Rev. Dr. Lee M. Heilman and 
was born in Harrrisburg, Pa. He 
is an alumnus of Gettysburg 
College, and graduated in 1900. 
He took his theological course at 
Gettysburg and was ordained by 
the West Pennsylvania Synod 
in 1902 at Carlisle, Pa. The 
honorary degree of Doctor of 
Divinity was conferred upon him 
by Wittenberg College, Spring- 
field, O., in 1918. 

His first pastorate was at York 
Springs, where he served from 
December, 1901, to June, 1904. 
After a brief pastorate of less 
than a year in the Children’s 
Memorial Church, Kansas City, 
Mo., he went to Europe and on his return became pastor of the 
Lutheran Church in Wooster, Ohio, where he served until Jan- 
uary, 1912, when he moved to Canton, Ohio, to become pastor 
of Trinity Church. While at Canton he took a trip to Greece, 
Egypt and Palestine. During his Canton pastorate the church 
assumed the support of three foreign mission pastors. From 
Canton, in December, 1920, he went to Sioux City, Iowa. The 
spring and summer of 1922 were spent on a trip around the world 
with Mrs. Heilman, visiting especially India, China and Japan. 

From Sioux City, in September, 1924. Dr. Heilman went to 
Baltimore, Md., to assume his duties as Field Secretary of the 
Board of Foreign Missions, which office he resigned May 28, 1925. 
He received a call to the Memorial Lutheran Church, September 
13, 1925, and entered upon his pastorate here September 17. Rev. 
Bowers, the former pastor of the local church, followed Dr. Heil- 
man’s pastorate at Wooster, and now the latter follows in the 
footsteps of Rev. Bowers. Besides the regular pastor, the local 
congregation also supports a foreign minister, Dr. J. Roy Strock 
of Carlisle, Pa., who is located in India. 








MEMORIAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, SHIPPENSBURG, PA. 


Rev. J. FRANK Hetuman, D. D, Pastor 


The oldest archive of this congregation is a book, which is 
one hundred and forty-five years old. Its title page reads ‘‘Bap- 


416 History oF We3tT PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


tism Book for the Church at Shippensburg.” It was purchased 
June 13th, 1775, for the sum of five pounds, twelve shillings and 
six-pence, or twenty-seven dollars and twenty-two and one-half 
cents. This book shows that the first church here was a union 
of the Lutheran and Reformed churches. One interesting article 
in this book states that should any one in the church quarrel or 
fight, he should pay a fine to the church of $29.00. This first 
church stood on Queen Street. The situation is marked today 
by the old grave yard on what is known as the Baltimore road. 


aa 








MEMORIAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, SHIPPENSBURG, PA. 


The exact date of the organization of the church is unknown, 
but the records show that the church was in existence October 13, 
1770, as a baptism is reported for that date. However, it is sup- 
posed that the first pastor, whose name is unknown, came to 
take charge in the year 1775. This first congregation was a 
German one composed of Lutherans and Reformed. The first 
known pastor was the Rev. John George Butler who possibly 
took charge in the year 1787. He was a soldier of the Revolution; 
a strong, fearless preacher and a noble shepherd. 

We find that in 1804 there were 40 communicants; in 1813 
there were 140 communicants. An interesting note is made by 
one of the pastors of these early days, the Rev. Ulrich: ‘The 
church was full to overflowing. ‘There seemed to be a favorable 
state of feeling on this occasion. I preached a full hour, which 
was at least fifteen minutes too long. Long sermons are out of 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE A417 


place on such occasions. I shall hereafter make .a special effort 
to confine my sermons to forty-five minutes, or at most fifty 
minutes on all occasions. God grant it.”’ 

The following is a list of the pastors of Memorial church to 
the present time: 

1775-1787, unknown; 

1787-1797, John G. Butler; 

1797-1800, John Plitt; 

1800-1802, Adam Jasuiky; 

1802-1829, John F. Muller; 

1830-1839, N. J. Stroh; 

1839-1842, David Smith; 

1843-1849, J. T. Williams; 

1849-1852, Ben}. Sadtler, D. D.; 

1853-1855, Jacob Steck, D. D.; 

1855-1859, John Ulrich; 

1859-1863, L. A. Gotwald, D. D.; 

1863-1865, C. L. Ehrenfeld, Ph.-D.; 

1865-1868, George H. Beckley; 

1868-1873, T. C. Billheimer, D. D.; 

1874-1887, B. F. Alleman, D. D.; 

1887-1894, W. E. Stahler, D. D.; 

1894-1909, George C. Henry, D. D.; 

1909-1914, A. B. Bunn Van Ormer, Ph. D.; 

1915-1918, Henry Snyder, D. D.; 

1918-1925, Roy 8. Bowers; 

1925-——., J. Frank Heilman, D. D. 

It will be seen that the longest pastorate was that of John F. 
Miller, which was one of 27 years. 

This church gave the following sons to the Lutheran Min- 
istry: Rev. Charles A. Gelwicks,;, Rev. John F. Diener; Rev. 
Josiah F. Cressler; Rev. D. T. Koser; Rev. J. A. Koser; Rev. G. 
H. Slaybaugh and Rev. J. H. Walterick. 

The pastors of this church were able and devoted men. All 
of them left their marks upon the work which has culminated in 
the present strong congregation. One of the most loved men was 
the Rev. G. C. Henry, who was pastor for 14 years and who died 
while pastor. Huis impress is felt in the work today in no un- 
mistakable manner. Three church buildings have been used by 
the congregation. The second was built on the present site at 
the corner of Orange and Penn Streets, and was a frame building. 
The present building was erected in 1882; and the Sunday School 
room was built in the year 1898. Mrs. Sadie Marquard has been 
a teacher in the Sunday School for over 50 years. Mrs. Robert 
Duke is president of the Mite Society and has been in the church 
for over 50 years. 

The present membership of the church is 663 confirmed 
members. 


418 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The church property is a beautiful stone building worth at 
least $150,000. The parsonage is near the church on Orange street. 

The congregation in her whole history has been noted for 
her spirit of harmony and for her strong missionary spirit. 
Under the pastorate of Rev. R. 8. Bowers she undertook the 
support of her own missionary, who is the Rev. J. Roy Strock of 
India. This was the first congregation in the West Pennsylvania 
Synod to support her own missionary. She rejoices in the record 
of habitually paying her full apportionment. The Sunday School 
has an average attendance of 400. 

Miss Zevena Ross of this church graduated in 1924 from the 
Deaconess Motherhouse, taking up work in Knoxville, Tenn. 
Miss Francis Saegner is attending the Biblical Institute of New 
York City, preparing for United Lutheran Church foreign 
mission service. 


REV. W. G. SLIFER 
PASTOR OF THE ST. THOMAS CHARGE 


Rev. Wiliam Grant Slifer, 
oldest son of Joshua and Eliza 
A. Slifer, was born at Locust 
Grove, Washington County, 
Maryland, on July 28, 1868. 
When about a year old, he was 
baptized in the Lutheran Church 
at Locust Grove by Rev. George 
H. Beckley, at which time also 
both his father and mother were 
received into the church by bap- 
tism. He attended catechetical 
lectures under Revs. G. H. Beck- 

“ley, D.>.B. Floyd anth Wile 
Beard. At the age of 16 he was 
confirmed by Rev. D. B. Floyd 
in the Lutheran church at Roh- 
rersville, to which his parents 
had transferred their membership. 

From early youth he had a desire to study for the ministry 
and was encouraged in this by Revs. Floyd and Beard. Under 
the latter’s direction and with his assistance he was prepared for 

College in the public schools of Boonsboro, Maryland. He en- 

tered the Freshman Class of Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg 
in the fall of 1887, graduating in 1891. In the fall of the same 
year he entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettys- 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 419 


burg, graduating in June, 1894, at which time he was given the 
degree of A. M. by Pennsylvania College. He was licensed by the 
Maryland Synod in the Third Lutheran Church of Baltimore, in 
October, 1893, and ordained by the West Pennsylvania Synod in 
the First Lutheran Church of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 
October, 1894. 

On June 5, 1894, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
Blanche Walter, of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, who was called to her 
eternal rest and reward, August 22, 1919. To this union were born 
four children, Luther Walter, at this time on his way to the 
foreign mission field in India; Naomi Grace, recently married to 
Rev. Walter D. Guss of Delaware Gardens, N. J.; and Mary 
Evelyn and Martha Eyelyn, twins, at home. 

Rey. Shifer has served the following pastorates: The Upper 
Bermudian Charge, Adams Co., Pennsylvania, July 1, 1894— 
May, 1896. During this pastorate the Mount Zion Church at 
Goodyear was repaired and the Sunday Schools of the charge 
were kept open the entire winter for the first time in their history. 
From May, 1896; to October, 1898, he was the missionary pastor 
of the Saint John’s Church of Davis, West Virginia. Preaching 
services were also conducted during the week quite frequently for 
the Lutherans in Baird and Gorman, points twenty-five miles 
away. Services were also held on Sunday afternoon at a point 
seven miles from Davis in the Valley of Canaan. Here he built 
the first church of any denomination in the valley, Mount Hebron. 
The Clearville Charge in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, was 
served from October, 1898—October, 1903. During this pastor- 
ate a parsonage was bought and paid for, two churches repaired, 
and Mount Zion congregation organized and church built, all 
financial obligations being met in full. During this term of ser- 
vice three young men were influenced to enter the ministry: Revs. 
E. Victor Roland, EH. E. Snyder, and Ernest Pee. The Upper 
Frankford Charge, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, was served 
from October, 19083—December, 1911. During this pastorate, the 
Saint Peter’s or “Brick”? Church, said to be at that time, one of 
the finest rural churches in the state, was built and dedicated 
free of debt. The Saint Thomas Charge in Franklin County, 
Pennsylvania, has been served from December, 1911, to the pres- 
ent. 

During his years in the ministry, Rev. Slifer has preached 
three thousand one hundred and eighty-eight sermons, delivered 
two hundred and twenty-six other addresses and travelled about 
sixty thousand miles. 


420 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST. THOMAS LUTHERAN CHURCH 
(St. Thomas Charge) 
Rev. W. G. SLIFER, PASTOR 





LUTHERAN CHURCH, ST. THOMAS, PA. 


Ministers of the Lutheran church preached in St. Thomas or 
its vicinity before the beginning of the eighteenth century, but in 
what year an organization was effected there are no records to 
show. The first church was built in 1807. It was a log structure 
and was built by members of the Lutheran, Reformed and Presby- 
terian churches, each having a one third interest in the building 
and grounds. This church was very plain in its style of archi- 
tecture but answered the purpose for about 22 years. 

In 1829 the second church was built. This was larger and 
more modern than the first but bad not been in use very long when 
it was partially destroved by a storm of great severity that passed 
over this portion of the County. Repairs were promptly made 
and the building was soon ready for use again. 

The third building was erected i in 1853-4, but only the Luth- 
erans and Presbyterians united in its erection, the Reformed 
people having disposed of their interest to the Lutherans. In 
1899 the Presbyterians sold their interest to the Lutherans. In 
the same year important changes and improvements were made 
to the edifice, and others at various times since. The last were 
made during the summer of 1924. These consisted of exterior 
and interior repainting of the walls and refinishing of all the wood- 
work, including pews, altar and pulpit furniture. Also the placing 
of a painting in the pulpit recess, “Christ in the Garden,” as a 
memorial to Mrs. W. G. Slfer, by her husband and children. 
The reopening exercises were held Sunday, September 28th. 

The St. Thomas Congregation was served from or in con- 
nection with various other churches until October, 1891, when, 
by action of Synod it was united with Trinity Church of Fort 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 421 


Loudon and these two churches constitute the charge at the 
present time. The church has had twenty pastors during these 
117 years of history, of which only five are living. They are as 
follows, with dates of service: Revs. John G. Moeller, from or- 
ganization until 1829; J. Ruthrauff, 1830-1833; Reuben Weiser, 
1833-1835; Samuel Ruthrauff, 1835-1836; Peter Sahm, 1837-1840; 
John N. Hoffman, supply for six months; David Smith, 1843-1846; 
W. A. Kopp, 1846-1849; Adam Height, 1849-1850; Peter P. Lane, 
1851-18538; D. H. Focht, 1853-1855; George Sill, 1855-1859; Sol- 
omon McHenry, 1859-1866; J. K. Miller, 1866-1869; A. L. Felker, 
1869-1871; A. H. Shertz, 1872-1884; J. A. Hartman, 1885-1895; 
T. L. Crouse, 1895-1903; J. C. Reighard, 1904-1907; Henry W. 
Snyder, supply pastor summer of 1908, regular pastor, 1909-1911; 
W. G. Slifer, 1911 to the present time. 





ERINITY GUTHHERAN CHURCH, FORT LOUDON, PA, 
(St. Thomas Charge) 
REV. WAG, OLIPER, PASTOR 

This congregation was or- 
ganized May 7, 1848, with 
33 charter members (18 
men and 15 women) under 
the pastoral supervision of 
Rev. D. Smith. The first 
church was erected in 1846 
at a cost of $1208. Rev. 
Smith resigned the field 
October, 1844, on account 
of illhealth. October 1845, 
Rev. Wm. Kopp took 
charge but resigned in Oc- 
tober, 1847, on account of 
difficulties. February 6, 
1848, Rev. Smith was re- 
called but must have serv- . 
ed only a few months as 
Rev. Solomon McHenry 
was pastor in the fall of 
1848. His last recorded ser- 
vice wasSeptember 12, 1858. 

Rev. G. Roth became 
pastor in May, 1859, and 
remained until 1862. There 
are no records from this 
date until April 21, 1872. 
At this time Rev. A. J. 
Hesson took charge. There TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 
is nothing to show how long Forr Loupon, Pa. 





422 History OF WEsT PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


he remained or who the other pastors were until 1891, though a 
record of baptisms, ete., was kept. In 1891 the congregation was 
united with the St. Thomas church to form a charge, and has 
been served by the same pastors. 

In 1884 the first building was thoroughly remodeled and en- 
larged. Other improvements have been made since at various 
times so that the congregation now has a very attractive and 
worshipful church. 


SYLVAN CHARGE, FRANKLIN CoO., PA. 


The Sylvan Charge of the Cumberland Valley Conference 
is composed of the Mt. Zion and St. Mark’s Lutheran Churches, 
the former organized in 1845 and the latter in 1840. 

The present house of worship at Mt. Zion was built in 1854 
by Reformed and Lutheran congregations, and has since been 
used by both. 

The Charge has been served by the following pastors: Revs. 
J. Mittler, 1850; Faus, 1855; McKenry, 1856; Sowers, 1857; 
Zimmerman, 1859; H. Knodle, 1864-1866; C. Knodle, 1872-1876; 
J. M. Graybill, 1870; C. Startsman, 1878; G. Trostle, 1891; E. 
A. Shenk, 1893. Connected with McConnellsburg Charge June 
30, 1895; Rev. D. F. Drawbaugh, pastor; A. G. Wolf, 1900; A. H. 
Burk; Clifford Hays; J.C. Fasold; C. W. Sechrist; William Nichols; 
P. J. Horick, and L. W. Gross, who took charge August 1, 1923. 
He resigned the charge July 14th, effective August Ist, and at 
the time of this publication the charge is without a pastor. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE _ 423 
REV. ABRAM R. LONGANECKER 
PaAsToR OF TRINDLE SPRINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH 


Mr. Longanecker was born 
near Mummasburg, Adams Co., 
Pa., November 26, 1867, the son 
of John 8. and Mary Elizabeth 
Longanecker. 

He was baptized and confirmed 
in the Lutheran Church = at 
Arendtsville, Pa., by Rev. D. T. 
Koser, pastor. 

In the fall of 1891 he entered 
Gettysburg College, and grad- 
uated from that institution in 
1895, in the fall of the same year 
entering the Theological Semi- 
nary at Gettysburg, where he con- 
tinued his studies until his grad- 
uation in 1879. 

He was licensed by the Mary- 
land Synod in 1896 and ordained 
by the same Synod in 1897. 

His first pastoral work was begun in the Shenandoah Charge 
of the Virginia Synod in 1897, and continued until 1899, when 
a call was received from the Dillsburg Charge, York County. 
He served this charge until December, 1903. He next accepted 
an invitation to become pastor of the Swissvale Lutheran Church 
and remained until June, 1905. Then an opportunity was given 
to organize a new congregation at DuBois, Pa. After the organ- 
ization, a call was received and accepted to become its pastor, 
and his service here continued until 1912. The Loysville Charge, 
Perry County, Pa., was his next field of labor. The pastoral 
relationship continued here until 1920, when the duties of his 
present pastorate at Trindle Springs were entered upon. 

' He was married to Miss Agnes H. Snyder, daughter of D. K. 
and Mary Snyder, of McKnightstown, Pa., July 6th, 1898. From 
this union there are the following children: Mable G., Reida, 
Elizabeth Mary and Edwin. 





424 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


TRINDLE SPRINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
TRINDLE SPRINGS, PA. 


Rev. A. R. LONGANECKER, PASTOR 





TRINDLE SPRINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH 


The Trindle Springs congregation was organized by John 
Harris, in 1765. ‘The first pastor was Rev. Jacob Goehring, a 
young man of 20 years. All the services were in the German 
language. Following Rev. Mr. Goehring, who resigned the charge 
in 1780, the charge has been served successively by Revs. J. G. 
Butler, Adam Henry Meyer, John Herbst, Frederick Sano, es 
P. Hecht, Benjamin Keller, who served from 1816 to 1824, 
which time the charge was composed of eight Consent 
Carlisle, Trindle Springs, St. John’s, Upper Frankford, Lower 
Frankford and a congregation in Perry County. There were 
thirty-four members at Trindle Springs when Rev. Keller took 
charge. The congregation at this time worshipped in a log church 
building, located in what is now known as the Old Cemetery. The 
first Sunday School was organized here in 1826. In 1873 prep- 
aration was made for the erection of the present church build- 
ing, Which was completed during the same year. 

Succeeding Rev. Keller, Rev. A. H. Lochman served from 
1824 to 1826; Rev. M. I. Stroh, 1829, 1830, during whose pastorate 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE ADD 


a charter was obtained for the German Reformed and the German 
Lutheran congregations, incorporating them into a Union Church; 
Rev. Emanuel Keller, 1830-1835; Rev. A. Babb, 1837-1838; Rev. 
A. Height, 1851-1853; Rev. C. F. Stoever, 1855-1863. During 
his administration the first records were made concerning the 
proceedings of the trustees of the Union Congregation. 

Continuing the order of pastorates, Rev. J. R. Groff, 1863- 
1870; Rev. H. R. Fleck, 1872-1875; Rev. M. Ort, 1876-1895. In 
1875 the separation of the German Reformed and the German 
Lutheran congregations took place. In 1880, under the super- 
vision of Dr. Ort the church was renovated at an expense of 
$862.75. In 1891-92 the church property came into legal poss- 
ession of the Lutheran congregation. 

The order of pastorates then followed: Rev. A. A. Kelly, 
1896-1899, during which time the church was again remodeled; 
Rev. B. R. M. Sheeder, 1900-1902; Rev. E. E. Parson, 1902-1908; 
Rev. E. H. Ehrhart, 1908-1910; Rev. T. E. Shearer, 1911-1913; 
Rev. 8. 5. Garnes, 1914-1918; Rev. U. E. Apple, 1918-1920. Rev. 
A. R. Longanecker, the present pastor, began his labors here 
December Ist, 1920. 


BRICK CHURCH, OR ST. PETER’S, CUMBERLAND CoO. 
(Upper Frankford Charge) 





‘ST. PETER’s, “Brick” CHURCH, CUMBERLAND Co. Bui tT 1826 


The original organization was effected in 1796. The first 
baptism was that of Henry Bloser, born May 13th, 1795, baptized 
February 12th, 1796. The first lot of ground was purchased and 
surveyed March 17, 1800. The trustees paid $16 for 1 acre and 


426 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


23 perches. The original church was immediately built. Peter 
Bloser and Martin George advanced the money to pay for it. 
The organization was known as the United German Society of 
Lutherans and Calvinists of Frankford Township. 

In 1809 the communicant membership of the Lutheran con- 
gregation was 35. In 1820 the membership had grown to 104. 
During this period Revs. Benjamin Keller, Hall and others served 
as pastors. 

In 1823 Rev. G. Heiliz took charge and a meeting was called 
to make plans to secure the funds to build a new church. The 
German Lutheran congregation numbered 75; the German Re- 
formed, 25. These two congregations built the Brick Church on 
a new plot of ground bought from Peter Bloser for $20. The 
cornerstone was laid September 2, 1826. The church cost $2000 
in money and much free labor in addition. This building was at 
that time the finest building west of Carlisle in the Valley. 

Rev. G. Heiliz held his last communion service January 17, 
1827; 73 communed. The same year he resigned, and Rev. J. N. 
Stroh took charge. He remained 5 years during which time the 
membership increased to 125. Rev. D. P. Rosenmiller, the next 
pastor, remained 8 years and saw the congregation grow to 150. 
During this pastorate Rev. Daniel Sells united with the church. 
Rev. John Heck came next and remained 4 years. He was fol- 
lowed by Rev. E. Bridenbaugh who remained 4 years. At this 
time the congregation paid $100 per year to the pastor’s support. 
The next pastor was Rev. Sidney L. Harkey. He remained 2 
years. The membership was 100. From March, 1852, to De- 
cember, 1860, the church was served by Rev. Joshua Evans. 100 
members were added and the salary was increased to $150. The 
next pastor was Rev. H. Baker from January 1, 1861, to May, 
1867. Salary $200. During the next year the church was 
served by Rev. H. E. McKnight. He was succeeded by Rev. E. 
Dutt, who remained from 1869 to 1874. Rev. 8. A. Diehl served 
this church from 1875 to 1885. In the spring of 1875, 80 members 
were added. 

During the latter part of this pastorate a dissolution of the 
relationship which had existed for so many years between the 
Lutheran and Reformed congregations was mutually agreed upon, 
the latter withdrawing their interests and erecting a church in 
the town of Bloserville. 

The next pastor was Rev. George 8. Bowers, who resigned 
October 1, 1888. Rev. R. 8. Stair served the congregation from 
October 1, 1888, to June 1, 1891. The next pastor was Rev. J. 
L. Metzger, who served the congregation 11 years and 9 months. 
The membership was 170. Rev. W. G. Slifer took charge Sep- 
tember 19, 1903. 

In the spring of 1905 the congregation decided to build a 
new church. The cornerstone of the new building was laid April 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 427 


30, 1905, by the pastor. The sermon was preached by Rev. J. J. 
Kerr, of St. Paul’s Lutheran church of Newville. The church 
was completed and dedicated December 17, 1905. 





ST. PETER’s, ‘BRICK’? CHURCH, CUMBERLAND Co. Burtt 1905 


The structure is of Gettysburg red brick trimmed with Hum- 
melstown brown stone. It is Gothic in style with audience room 
37x49 feet and Sunday School room 30x32 feet and a tower 50 
feet high in which hangs a 1000 lb. bell donated by Rev. Slhifer 
and Samuel Burkhart. 


The cost of the completed building was $8,000. This is the 
present house of worship and is valued today at $15,000. The 
sermon of dedication was preached by Rev. T. C. Billheimer, D. 
D., of the Gettysburg Theological Seminary. The membership 
was about 180; the membership of the 8. 8S. about 190. Rev. 
Slifer resigned November 19, 1911. Rev. Mervin E. Smith was 
pastor of the charge from April 1, 1912, to November 1, 1915. 
Rev. John W. Wolfe began work May 1, 1916, and closed his 
work June 1, 1920. The membership at this time was about 130. 
Martin L. Rudisill was pastor from November 1, 1921, to Febru- 
ary 28, 1923. Rev. C. H. Shull, took charge May 1, 19238, and 
served until December 15, 1924. 


Revs. D. P. Drawbaugh and Guy Miller are sons of this 
church. 


It is now served in connection with St. James’s congregation 
of Bloserville, and the Center congregation, both of which were 
organized out of this congregation; the former in 1891 during the 
pastorate of Rev. R. S. Stair; the latter in 1872 during that of 
Rev. E. Dutt. The total membership of the charge is 300. The 
S. S. about the same number. 


498 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


. The present Church Council are the following: Elders, Reuben 
Clouse, Luther M. Barrick, John M. Mayberry, George Fry; 
Deacons, John Snyder, John Throne, Pash I. Bloser, Wilham C. 





St. JAMEs’s LUTHERAN. CHuRCH, CUMBERLAND Co. 


Bistline; Trustee: Elliott Miller. George Fry is President of the 
Council. William C. Bistline is the Secretary. Elliott Miller is 
Superintendent of the Sunday School and President of the C. E. 





CENTER LUTHERAN CHURCH, CUMBERLAND Co. 


Society. George Fry was Superintendent of this Sunday School 
for a period of 25 years. He resigned in the spring of 1924 on 
account of his duties*asyTreasurer of Cumberland Co., which took 
him to Carlisle. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 429 
REVIWiiLGAN we oCHULLZ 
PASTOR OF THE UPPER STRASBURG CHARGE 


Rev. W. J. Schultz was born 
in Heburn Township, Lycoming 
County, Pa., September 19, 1879, 
the son of Edward Albert and 
Hannah Schultz. He is the 
grandson of the Rev. Augustus 
Schultz, who served a number 
of Lutheran pastorates in Ly- 
coming County. 

The ’teen age of the subject 
of our sketch was spent on the 
farm. His early education was 
received in a district school; 
after having earned a common 
school diploma, he entered the Ly- 
coming Co. Normal School, taking 
asummer course in preparation 
for teaching and college. He 
taught public schools for five 
years and then entered the Freshman Class of Bucknell University, 
eraduating in 1910 in the Classical Course. After three years of 
continued study he was granted the A. M. degree by Bucknell 
University. 

In the fall of 1910 he entered the Theological Department of 
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., graduating in 1918. 
He was ordained in the Pine Street Lutheran Church, Danville, 
Pa., by the Susquehanna Synod May 4, 1918, and has served the fol- 
lowing Charges; Zion’s Charge, Center Co., for nine years and 
five months beginning July 1, 1912; Rebersburg Charge, Center 
Co., sixteen months beginning December 1, 1921; Espy Briar- 
creek Charge, Columbia Co., two years and three months beginning 
April 1, 1928; and his present Charge of Upper Strasburg, Franklin 
Co., upon the duties of which he entered August 1, 1925. 





UPPER STRASBURG CHARGE, FRANKLIN COUNTY, PA. 
Rev. W. J. ScHuLtTz, PASTOR 


This Charge is composed of four congregations, Emmanuel, 
Salem, St. Paul’s and Zion Lutheran. 

The oldest organization is that of the Salem Lutheran Church, 
at Pleasant Hall, Franklin County, which dates back to June 5th, 


430 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


1786, as the time of its founding. The first edifice in which the 
people worshipped was a log building, the second was a frame 
building with galleries on three sides of the church; and the third 


structure, the present building, is of brick and was erected in 
1854. 


We have no record of the first pastor, who organized the 
congregation. The first pastor of whom the congregation has any 
record was the Rev. Nicholas Stroh, who supplied it from Ship- 
pensburg, Pa., riding on horse-back. He became the regular 
pastor in the year 1827, and served until 1840, when he was suc- 
ceeded by the Rev. Isaac Smith, who served until March 12, 1842. 


One of the oldest graveyards in Franklin County is that of 
the Lutheran Church picturesquely situated near the village of 
Pleasant Hall in Letterkenny township, the deed for which passed 
December 10, 1789, from the then owner to the joint trusteeship 
of the Lutheran and Reformed churches. The original trustees 
were Jasper Reed, Henry Humpberger, John Cramer, Frederick 
Stake, Lutherans; Peter Sharer, George Stinger, John Snyder, 
Devault Kever, named in the deed as Reformers. No change in 
title has taken place since that date. 


On part of this ground the old log church was erected, and 
there it stood through the rack of the elements and twisted by 
some human disturbances until it was torn down in 1851, to be 
replaced the following year by the simple brick building which, 
with some architectural changes made in 1902, still accommodates 
the growing Lutheran congregation of Pleasant Hall. 


In the original log structure, almost one hundred years ago, 
about the year 1830, its first Sunday School was organized. This 
followed some arduous religious work by Jacob Minehart, who was 
a member of the congregation but had lately removed to Ship- 
pensburg. In connection with Rev. Adam Hyte he established 
this school, was made its superintendent, and on more than one 
occasion Walked from Shippensburg to Pleasant Hall and back, 
a distance of some sixteen miles, to take part in the exercises of 
the school. 


The old log church, after being taken down in 1851, was re- 
moved to what is now Lurgan and there the logs were rebuilt 
into what is now known as the Union Church, still sneuation. and 
occupied as a place of worship. 

How many bodies are buried in the old ngouainal no one 
knows. The unknown and unmarked graves are many; and there 
are also many Revolutionary soldiers buried here, most of whose 
eraves are unmarked. For the purpose of locating all these and 
for the restoring of the grounds an association Was organized in 
1910, with the following officers: President, T. Z. Minehart; Vice- 
President, Harry Treher; Secretary, Irvin S. Cramer; Treasurer, 
The Farmers’ and Merchants’ Trust Company of Chambers- 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 431 


burg, the last named to have authority to receive and hold moneys 
in trust for the future maintenance of the yard. 

The Emmanuel Lutheran Congregation, of Upper Strasburg, 
Franklin Co., Pa., was organized in 1821. No record can be 
found stating by whom the organization was brought about; but 
doubtless it was under the leadership of Rev. Nicholas J. Stroh, 
who became the regular pastor at Pleasant Hall in 1827, and 
served Emmanuel, at Upper Strasburg, Salem, at Pleasant Hall, 
and Zion, at Keefer’s, Pa., until 1840. 

These three congregations were then served by the following 
pastors successively: Revs. Daniel Smith, 1840-1842; Stepnes, 
1842-1844; John Williams, 1844-1848; S. M cHenry, a few months 
but no dates given; Adam Height, 1849-1850: C. F. Kunkel, 1850- 
1854; J. Welfley, 1856-1858; C. A. Gelwix, 1859-1860; M. Snyder, 
1860-1866; Rev. E. Dutt, 1866-1869. 

It was during the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Dutt that the St. 
Paul’s Lutheran Congregation at Orrstown, Pa., was organized, 
in 1867. 

The first step toward this organization was taken during a 
walk to Pleasant Hall by Samuel B. Wise and Samuel Heister 
in the fall of 1866. Upon their arrival, their proposition made 
to Rev. E. Dutt and some of the other Christian people met with 
hearty approval. A meeting was called at the undertaking room 
of Samuel Heister, which was attended by John Karper, Isaac 
Wise, Samuel B. Wise, W. H. Blair, Daniel Keefer, Samuel Kar- 
per, S. B. Shields and Samuel Heister. 

Desiring to learn what money could be raised to carry their 
plans into execution, the members present subscribed the follow- 
ing sums: W. H. Blair, $50.00; J. H. Wise, $100.00; 8. B. Wise, 
$50.00; S. B. Shields, $40. 00; Samuel Karper, $25.00; John Karper, 
100.00 In fur ther effor ts to collect funds the success was so meager 
that the enterprise was almost abandoned; but it received a new 
impetus when Samuel B. Wise, on a trip through Lurgan and 
Fairview and adjacent country, received contributions amounting 
to $325, including one from Henry Blair for $25.00, and another 
from Emanuel Staver and family for $100.00. Within a com- 
paratively short time the sum of $2400.00 was raised, and the 
work of building definitely undertaken. 

The lot selected for the church is situated in the eastern part 
of the town on the South side of Main St., and was purchased 
from John Karper for $100.00. 

At a meeting held in Orrstown, April 6, 1867, the following 
officers were elected: Trustees, John Karper and David Coleman; 
Elders, Samuel Heister and Emanuel Staver; Deacons, David 
Minick, Samuel B. Wise, Emanuel Killinge and Samuel Karper. 

On the 17th day of August, 1867, the corner stone was laid 
by the Rev. E. Dutt, assisted by Rev. J. K. Miller. 

On the 26th day of January, 1868, the church was dedicated 


432 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


by the pastor, Rev. E. Dutt, assisted by Rev. M. J. Alleman, 
M. L. Shingle and L. I. Williams, as the first Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of Orrstown, Pa. 

Continuing the succession of pastorates, Rev. A. H. Shertz 
served the charge from 1869 to 1872; Rev. J. C. Honeycutt, 1872- 
1876; Rev. D. M. Blackwelder, 1876-1877; Rev. John Kistler, 


1877- ; Rev. George W. Rhodes, 1884- + “4Revil Eis 
Letterman, 1889- ; Rev. Charles A. Hoy, 1891- ; Rev. M. 
L. Snyder, 1893-1903; Rev. Charles A. Day, 1903- > Rev. W. 
D. Nicoll, 1905- ; Rev. M. D. Geesey, 1909-1911; Rev. 8. F 


Greenhoe, 1913-1924; the present pastor, Rev. W. J. Schultz, 
entered upon his duties August 1, 1925. 


REV. LUDWIG C. MORTENSEN 
PASTOR OF THE WEST FAIRVIEW CHARGE 


Rev. Ludwig C. Mortensen, 
the present pastor of St. Mark’s 
and St. Paul’s Churches com- 
prising the West Fairview Charge, 
was born at St. Paul, Munn., 
January 30, 1883. 

As is often the case with sons 
of ministers, he had the oppor- 
tunity of attending schools in 
several cities, on account of his 
father’s removing from charge to 
charge. He attended grammar 
school at Hartford, Conn., Sum- 
mervule and Cambridge, Mass., 
and Chicago, Ill. Attended High 
School at Minneapolis, Minn., 
also a college belonging to the 
United Norwegian Church. Lat- 
er he went to Luther College, 
Decorah, Iowa. 


Having learned two trades it was an easy matter to travel 
and see what our country looked like. He spent much time 
traveling through the western states. 

For one and one-half years, he was engaged in slum mission 
work in the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., under his father, the Rev. 
V. A. M. Mortensen. 

He entered Seminary at Gettysburg, September, 1921, and 
eraduated May, 1924. June 6, 1923, he married Miss Ruth Anna 





CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 433 


Meales of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. May 1, 1924, he accepted 
a call to the pastorate of the West Fairview Charge of the West 
Pennsylvania Synod. 





ST. MARK’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH 
West FarIrRvIEW, PENNSYLVANIA 


Rev. Lupwic C. MortTENSEN, PAsToR 





St. Mark’s LUTHERAN CHuRCH, WEST FarIRVIEw, Pa. 


In the early days of this town it was necessary for the Luth- 
erans who desired to attend Lutheran services to walk to what is 
now known as Enola, a distance of three miles to church. On 
account of the distance many of the Lutheran people sent their 
children to the Methodist and United Brethren Churches. 


Feeling the need of this church, they started immediately to 
seek subscriptions for a building, and for members. Having met 
with great success, the congregation was organized at the home 
of the Pastor on September 10, 1869. The members of Zion 
Church had asked that they be dismissed and received their 
letters. 

The following were the charter members: Mrs. L. A. Dasher, 
Mary Rapp, Caroline Spong, Susan Eslinger, Elizabeth Wilbar, 
Eliza Wilbar, F. S. Moltz, Mary C. Banks, Jennie Banks, Cather- 
ine Ebner, Eve Kilheffer, Aug. Ebner, C. F. Wilbar, J. P. Wilbar, 
Jacob Eckert. 

Of the charter members there is only one left, Mrs. Elizabeth 


434 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Wilbar, now a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Harris- 
burg. 

There were also three others who had declared their intention 
of uniting, but were not present at this meeting: Catherine Lantz, 
Catherine Kennedy, Mary C. Hood. Of these there is one living, 
Catherine Kennedy, now of Terre Haute, Indiana. 

The church adopted the General Synod Formula for the 
government and discipline of the church. 

The first officers were elected by Zion and ratified by St. 
Mark’s and were as follows:—Trustees: John Sheets, Jacob Eck- 
ert, Chas. F. Wilbar; Elders: Jacob Eckert, Aug Ebner; Deacons: 
Chas. F. Wilbar, J. P. Wilbar; Secretary, J. P. Wilbar; Treasurer, 
C. F. Wilbar. 

These officers were installed by Rev. Dasher. The trustees 
were the building committee for the new church. The ground 
was purchased for the sum of $779.50. 

The trench for the foundation was dug by Rev. Dasher, 
assisted by his son George, Jesse Lantz, Fred Lantz, John Moore 
and many men and little boys. Part of the foundation was laid 
and just nine days after the group had met at the home of the 
Pastor to form the new congregation, the corner stone was laid, 
September 19, 1869. On the platform sat the choir, the visiting 
ministers and the Pastor of the church. The visiting ministers 
were, Rev. A. W. Lilly, of York; Rev. F. C. Pritchard, of Me- 
chanicsburg; Rev. Henry Seifert, of Lewisburg. 

Mr. Theodore Moltz had charge of the music and among the 
selections used for the occasion was one composed by himself. 
There was four stanzas. One of these was memorized by a small 
cirl, now Mrs. John Moore. The first stanza is as follows: 

On this stone now laid with prayer, 
Let Thy church rise strong and fair: 
Ever, Lord, Thy name be known, 
Where we lay this corner stone. 

The corner stone contained the following: Copy of Sacred 
Scriptures, Luther’s Small Catechism, Lutheran Hymnal, Litera- 
ture of General Synod, Lutheran Almanac, 1869, Minutes of 
West. Penna. Synod, Minutes of General Synod, Lutheran Ob- 
server and American Lutheran, List of officers of Zion and St. 
Mark’s Churches, Names'of the President, U. 8. Grant; Vice- 
President, Schuyler Colfax of the United States; and the Governor 
of Penna., Gary; the order of the exercises at the laying of the 
corner stone; photo of Rev. Solomon Dasher, Pastor in charge. 

On Sunday, December 19, 1869, the building was dedicated. 
The sermon was preached by Rev. Lilly of York, text Isa. 56:7; 
sermon in the evening by Rev. J. H. Menges. At the corner 
stone laying there was subscribed, $316.80; at the morning service 
at dedication, $944.00; at the evening service, $108.50; Total, 
$1369.30. The total cost of the church was, $3375.47. 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 435 


The church was a square building, plain walls, lighted with 
coal-oil lamps, had two large egg stoves for heating. The other 
furniture consisted of a book-case, cane-seated chairs which ten 
years later were replaced with the regular pulpit chairs, one large 
one and two small ones. 

In 1880 the tower with belfry was added at a cost of $867.96, 
and dedicated September 13, 1882. 


The bell was placed in memory of Mrs. Agatha Wilbar, who 
had willed $100 to St. Mark’s. At a council meeting the sons of 
Mrs. Wilbar expressed the desire that the money be used to pur- 
chase a bell. Part of the inscription can be read, as follows: 
“Presented to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church from mother A. C. 
Wilbar,” the rest having been effaced by the weather. 


September 18, 1883, an iron fence was placed around the 
church by Mrs. Lizzie Alexander and Mrs. Birdie Wilbar-Shutt. 
Bible donated for the pulpit by Mrs. Agatha Wilbar. Mrs. Rapp 
at different times donated, individual communion set, swinging 
doors, lectern, hymn board, collection plates. First organ bought 
January, 1872, replaced April 12, 1874; June, 1900, Charles 
Bretz donated one. Ladies’ Bible class assisted by the Sunday 
School gave the piano now in use. 


In the spring of 1900 the church was remodeled, papered, 
painted, choir loft made, altar railing, new pews, electric lights, 
gallery, blinds dividing primary rooms, and sixty-four small chairs 
placed in primary room. ‘This was during the second pastorate 
of Rev. Dasher. Also the entire church was carpeted, the entire 
cost of remodeling was $1600.57. Dedicated June, 1900, Dr. 
Weber of York had charge of the services. 


In April, 1906, during the pastorate of Rev. Wolgemuth, 
Zion of Enola withdrew. 

The stained glass windows were placed in their position 
May 29, 1907. These were dedicated June, 1907, by Rev. A. G. 
Wolf, Pastor at the time. 

In 1921 the iron fence was removed and the cement walk laid 
on the north side of church, belfry repaired and a new roof put on. 
In 1922 the church was painted and a canopy placed over the 
front door with an electric light. New furniture placed in the 
church, altar, lectern, pulpit chairs, choir loft, and chancel railing. 
These last were through the efforts of Rev. C. A. Lantz. 

The last joint council meeting of all four churches which at 
one time comprised this charge was held March 31, 1906; this was 
the thirty-ninth anniversary. 

In July, 1900, it was agreed to sell the church property at 
New Market and buy at New Cumberland. On October 10, 1910, 
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of New Cumberland was dedicated. 

The men who served this charge are as follows: 

Rev. Solomon Dasher, organizer of the church, was born at 


436 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Palmyra. He moved to West Fairview with his parents, and at 
an early age was left an orphan. 
He was hired to work on the 
Halderman farm and went to 
school until about eleven years 
of age in the little school-house 
across the railroad now occupied 
by ‘“Hinkles.” 

Previous to his study for the 
ministry he was a cooper at the 
Nail Works; this enhanced his 
hold on the men. It was told 
by himself that through his first 
wife’s lovely Christian character 
and influence he embraced re- 
ligion. He never went to college 
or seminary, but was tutored for 
the ministry by a pastor. 





REv. SOLOMON DASHER 


His first charge was at Lewisburg; he left there to come to 
Zion now in Enola. He hadthree churches in this charge. Stone, 
Brick or Zion, New Market and then the new church at West 
Fairview. 

After several years’ service here he left to go to Jubilee 
Lutheran Chapel, 15th and Sharp Sts., Harrisburg, Pa. Here he 
later built the Memorial Lutheran Church. He served these 
people about twenty-three years, coming back to St. Mark’s for 
the Memorial in 1896. 

On Nov. 17, 1850, Rev. Dasher married Lydia Wilbar, 
daughter of a West Fairview iron man from New England. AI- 
most fifty happy years had passed when his beloved wife was 
taken from him. His health was much impaired. Because of 
frail health and sorrow he wished to resign but St. Mark’s refused 
to accept. 

Just seven months after losing his companion (June 22, 1901) 
he died while visiting his daughter Myna in Lebanon. His body 
was brought to West Fairview where services were held Tuesday, 
June 25, 1901, in St. Mark’s Church. He was 75 years of age. 

The church could not hold all who wished to attend his 
funeral. Rev. Hocker of Steelton had charge of the service. 
Rev. Stock, President of Synod, and fully a dozen other ministers 
were present. 

His character was beautiful, his lovely qualities were well 
remembered by his congregation. 

Served from September 10, 1869 to 1872 and again September, 
1896 to 1901; Rev. 8. E. Herring, September 1872 to 1874; Rev. 
E. Dutt, April, 1874 to 1875; Rev. I. Irvine, July, 1875 to 1877; 
Rev. Tressler, March, 1877 to 1880; Rev. McHenry, April, 1881 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 437 


to 1882; Rev. E. Felton, July, 1882 to 1883; Rev. Lingle, February, 
1884 to 1886; Rev. Earhart, April, 1886 to 1888; Rev. W. C. Seidel, 
October, 1888 to 1890; Rev. J. L. Nicholas, September, 1890 to 
1896; Rev. W. A. Wolgemuth, September, 1902 to 1906; Rev. A. 
G. Wolff, October, 1906 to 1917; Rev. C. A. Lantz, October, 1917 
to 1923; Rev. Ludwig C. Mortensen; May, 1924 to—. 

With the coming of the present pastor extensive repairs were 
made to the parsonage, which together with the building of a 
garage amounted to $1038.13 in cost. 


THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 


The first Sunday School was organized on March 5, 1870, 
with officers as follows: President, Rev. Dasher; Secretary and 
Treasurer, W. V. Banks; Superintendent, Josiah Wilbar; Ass’t. 
Superintendent, Wm. Kennedy; Librarian, Jacob Sparrow; Ass’t. 
Librarian, George Schutt. 

March 18, 1870, the officers, members, and friends met in the 
church to hold their first Sunday School service. Mr. E. 8. Ger- 
man delivered an address; they then commenced to organize the 
school by electing the teachers and classifying the members. 
After a short session the school was dismissed to meet on Sunday 
athe Pa; 

Nov. 4, 1882—Resolved, That the Sunday School collection 
of the first Sunday in the month be given to missionary purposes. 

The first monthly teachers’ meeting was held March 21, 1870. 

May 5, 1872, Mr. W. L. Lantz was appointed as secretary 
and treasurer and held this office for twenty-one years. Mr. J. 
P. Wilbar, the first superintendent, held office for twenty years. 

Present officers: Superintendent, J. G. Shaffer; Assistant Su- 
perintendent, Geo. Hoover; Secretary, Kenneth Lantz; Treasurer, 
J. Harper Lantz; Organist, Miss Lillian Freeland. 

The school has 14 classes, primary room, cradle roll, and home 
department. It has for several years stood in the list of 100% 
efficiency of the Cumberland County Sabbath School Association. 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH 
(West Fairview Charge) 


Rev. Lupwia C. MorTENSEN, PASTOR 


St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of the West Fairview Charge is 
situated in the north-eastern part of Silver Spring township, 
Cumberland County, near Lamb’s Gap in the Kittatinney Mts. 
and six miles north of Mechanicsburg. 

The Lutheran people of this community had a great distance 


438 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


to go in the early days to attend Divine service. They finally 
decided to build a log meeting house and school-house combined. 

Joseph Walter gave the land and the house was built in 1829 
about fifty feet east of the present church. 

The following year, 1830, the cemetery, known as the Walter 
graveyard was laid out by the schoolmaster Paddy Laverty. 
Soon after, Henry Shumberger, an infant son of Simon Shumberger 
and wife, was buried. This was the beginning of the silent city 
adjoining the old log meeting house, called the Walter meeting 
house. It was in use until 1858. 





St. Paut’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, CUMBERLAND Co. 


During the year 1857 another half acre of land was obtained 
from Joseph Walter, son of the donor of the first tract, on pay- 
ment of twelve and one-half dollars. On this tract the present 
ehurch was built, work beginning in 1857. 

The church council, responsible for building operations, was 
composed of the following men:—John Zeamer, Amos Spangler, 
Henry Noss, Daniel Miller, Jacob Walter and Jacob Simmons. 

Rev. Staver was the minister and gave the first ten dollars 
toward the building fund. 

Stone for the building was gotten in what is known as the 
“Stoney Batteries’ at the foot of the Kittatinney Mountains 
south of Lamb’s Gap. It is locally known as brown sand stone. 

The wall was built to the height of five feet during 1857 
when the funds became exhausted. The building was completed 
in 1858. 

Benj. Waggoner, Adam Wertz and Samuel Karns were the 
stone masons and Wm. Albright did the carpenter work. Paint- 
ing was done by Geo. Horner. 

During the corner stone service, Mrs. Nathaniel Given carried 


CUMBERLAND VALLEY CONFERENCE 439 


her small son, James, by the stone and he dropped a quarter of a 
dollar into the opening. This, with his name, is sealed in the 
stone. ! 

All the nails and spikes that were used in the building were 
made in the blacksmith shop of Jeremiah Bretz, one of the mem- 
bers. 

The church was dedicated December 25, 1858. The money 
was collected by Jacob Simmons, treasurer of the council, assisted 
by Emmanuel Holtz. 

On December 9, before dedication, the funeral of Joseph 
Walter, from whom the second tract of land was acquired, was 
held in the church. This funeral sermon was the first sermon 
preached in the church. | 

No Sunday School was held in the new building until the 
pastorate of Rev. Groff, 1863-1869, when a Sunday School was 
organized by him with Jacob Simmons as the first superintendent. 

On September 19, 1869, Rev. Pritchard became pastor and 
remained till October, 1870, being succeeded by Rev. Dasher who 
remained till 1871. 

In 1871 a tract of land east of the original Walter tract was 
purchased from John Single. 

On February 11, 1872, Rev. 8S. E. Herring preached his first 
sermon as pastor. He remained with the congregation till Feb. 
6 137A. 

On July 5, 1874, Rev. Dutt became pastor and remained till 
March 28, 1875. He was followed in 1875 by Rev. Irving who 
remained but a short time. 

The congregation was without a regular pastor till 1877. 
Rev. Tressler then took charge and remained till 1880. During 
his pastorate, the congregation purchased its first organ. 

Rev. McHenry became pastor late in 1880 and remained till 
1881. While he was pastor, the congregation held its first con- 
vention. 

Rev. Felton became pastor in 1882. The church was again 
repaired during his pastorate at a cost of $350. Rev. Felton re- 
mained till 1883. 

Rev. Lingle was pastor from February 1, 1884, to April 5, 
1885, at a salary of $100. 

Rev. M. G. Earhart was pastor from April, 1885, till August 
5, 1888, at a salary of $125. 

During the summer of 1887 an iron fence was built from the 
eastern side of the cemetery to the driveway just west of the 
church. The remainder was built in 1917. 

On October 4, 1888, Rev. W. C. Seidel became pastor and 
remained till March 30, 1890 at a salary of $125. 

On September 1, 1890, Rev. J. L. Nicholas became pastor. 

During his pastorate the church was repaired. At this time 
a belfry was built and a steel bell weighing five hundred pounds 


AAO History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


was purchased and hung. The church was roofed, painted and 
the walls were pointed. The two side doors were closed and the 
door placed in the center of the east wall. Several other changes 
were made. 

Rev. Nicholas remained with the congregation till Spetember 
1, 1896. 

Soon after this a new organ was obtained, money being col- 
lected by Adaline Walter Wertz and Mrs. Wm. Erb. 

During the year 1896 the church was chartered St. Paul’s 
Lutheran Church. The next year the church withdrew from the 
West Fairview charge and from June 1, 1897, till late in 1898 was 
served by Rev. Dasher. 

From the time of the withdrawal from the West Fairview 
charge until 1916, when it was_again made a part of that charge, 
the church was provided with supplies from other churches by 
Synodical arrangement. 

The supplies were as follows:— 

Rev. A. A. Kelley, June 1, 1898—September 1, 1899. 

Rev. H. R. Fleck, December 10, 1899—October 31, 1900. 
Rev. B. R. M. Sheeder, November 1, 1900— 1902. 
During his pastorate the Elizabeth Walter property was purchased 

for $700 and joined to the church property on the west. 

Rev. E. E. Parsons, 1902—1908. 

Rev. Gerhart, 1909—October, 1910. 

Rev. Thomas Shearer, 1911—1913. 

Rev. Garnes, 1914—1916. 

Rev. A. H. Wolf of the West Fairview church now became 
pastor of St. Paul’s as well and served from 1916 till September 2, 
1917. 

In December, 1917, Rev. Chas. A. Lantz came as pastor of 
the two churches. While Rev. Lantz was pastor, the church was 
made much more attractive and comfortable. To him we owe a 
ereat debt of gratitude, for by his untiring energy and skill the 
work was pushed forward and completed. The cost of the reno- 
vating and repairs was $3000. Of this amount $665 had been 
contributed by our Sunday School which numbers ninety-two. 

On the day of re-dedication, May 13, 1923, three services 
were held. No personal solicitations were made but the free will 
offerings amounted to almost $1500. 

In November, 19238, Rev. Lantz resigned and in February, 
1924, Rev. Mortensen was chosen to succeed him. 


CHAPTER XVIII 
YORK COUNTY CONFERENCE 
BEMUVMELR GS CHURCH IY OlKeC OUNARY (PAs 


The history of Bleimeir’s church, which is one of the oldest 
places of worship in York County, is indefinite, due to the loss 
of records, if such were kept in the early days of her history. 
Martin Bleimeir, who came to this country in 1749, settled in 
York Township, York County, and donated 40 acres of land for 
to found a school and sanctuary for the worship of God and the 
preaching of His Word. 

Just when St. John’s Lutheran and Reformed congregations 
were organized is not definitely known. Prowell’s history of York 
County says it took place in 1758. But the date is questionable, 
as there are no deeds or records obtainable. The joint congre- 
gation as now constituted made no charter before 1860. How- 
ever, records obtainable do show that children were baptized by 
George Bager in 1767, March 19th. The record of this baptism 
states, that the boy was over a year old when baptized; and as 
the German custom was to have children baptized before they 
are a year old, Prof. Grim of Gettysburg College is of the opinion 
that there must not have been a pastor up until that date. The 
record book, with a hog-skin covering, was started by Rev. Bager, 
who was then pastor of Christ Church, York. But there was a 
school house in the glen a few hundred feet from where the present 
church now stands, and funerals must have been held here as early 
as 1755 according to tombstone records. The congregation may 
thus be older than the register book started by Bager. Dr. Adam 
Stump thinks that the latter is true. If this be true, the pastor 
must have been Rev. Lucas Raus, who was both a minister and a 
physician, living in York. Rev. Raus was pastor of the mother 
church in York in 1758, but left the mother church in 1763. Then 
he organized about half-a-dozen rural congregations, of which 
Bleimeir’s must have been one, as his name appears in the bap- 
tismal records in 1769. But in July of the same year we find 
records showing that Rev. Bager also baptized some children in 
this territory. 

The first record we find in our Lutheran archives of Bleimeir’s 
Church is in the minutes of the Ministerium, 1792, when Mr. 
Ritz was appointed to serve as a catechist under the supervision 
of the pastor living in Hanover. Records show that he served 


44] 


442 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Shuster’s, Sattler’s, Bleimeir’s and Frey’s churches. In 1793 
Stahley’s or St. Luke’s was added. 

Three churches have been erected on this sacred soil. The 
first was a log church, in all probability similiar to the one erected 
at Frey’s about twelve years later. The space between the logs 
was chucked and was not plastered on the outside. The gable 
ends and the windows were painted red; the main door and inside 
of the building, white. The building had no chimney, as fires 
were always built on the outside. The seats consisted of slabs 
and the floors were the tamped earth. About twenty years was 
the life of such buildings. The second church was built of boards. 
The third church was built of brick, which now stands as a monu- 
ment to the loyalty and sacredness of the early Lutheran and 
Reformed settlers who came to York Township, York County. 

At present, preaching services are held by the Reformed con- 
gregation every two weeks, while the Lutheran congregation is 
supplied from time to time by visiting pastors. A very live and 
active Sunday School is maintained, having over a hundred on 
the roll; while the membership of each congregation is becoming 
smaller and smaller each year. 

The following Lutheran pastors served this church. The 
dates of the early pastorates are not obtainable. 

Rev. Lucas Raus; Rev. George Bager; Mr. Ritz, (Catechist) ; 
Rev. John Reyman; Rev. Conrod Reyman; Rev. John Herbst, 18138- 
1819; Rev. George Stecher, 1820-1830; Rev. A. Geanal; Rev. J. 
Harman; Rev. Jacob Kaempfer; Rev. John Conway; Rev. Peter 
Warner, 1871-1882; Rev. E. Lenhart, 1883-1886; Rev. C. W. 
Baker, 1886-1892; Rev. A. M. Heilman, 1892-1894; Rev. I. B. 
Crist, 1895-1897; Rev. W. F. Bare, 1898-1902; Rev. J. B. Lau, 
1902-1904; Rev. Samuel Greenhoe, 1904-1912; Rev. C. N. Schind- 
ler, 1913-1915; Rev. 8. L. Hench, 1915-1918. 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 443 
REV. GLENN T. HAFER 
PASTOR OF THE CHANCEFORD CHARGE 


Rev. Hafer was born Nov. 1, 
1897, in Franklin Co., Pa., a son 
of Nicholas M. and Sarah I. 
Hafer. After receiving his early 
education in the public schools 
of Franklin Co., he continued 
through Gettysburg College, and 
was graduated in 1920. After 
teaching one year in Shippens- 
burg, Pa., he returned to Gettys- 
burg to enter the Seminary in 
preparation for the Christian 
ministry. Upon his graduation 
from Seminary in 1924, he be- 
came pastor of the Chanceford 
Charge. 

On May 24, 1923, Rev. Hafer 
was united in marriage to Miss 
Mabel J. Snoke of Chambers- 


burg, Pa. 








De AVEES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH SYORK CO: PA. 
(Chanceford Charge) 
Rev. Guenn T. Harer, PAstor 


The long felt need of a house of worship in this community 
was never satisfied until the meeting in Sanney’s schoolhouse, No. 
10, of Chanceford Twp., York Co., Pa. Rev. Peter Warner, 
pastor of the Dallastown Lutheran Charge as chairman, and Peter 
Wambaugh as secretary, presided at the meeting. After an open- 
ing service of song and prayer, the meeting was opened for dis- 
cussion which was directed by the following three questions: 
Shall we build a church? Shall it be a Lutheran church? Where 
shall it be built? A motion that a church be built carried. It 
was likewise moved that it be of the Lutheran denomination with 
the privilege to other denominations of holding services in the 
church on funeral occasions. This motion carried. By a third 
motion, it was decided that a committee of three men be appointed 
to select a site for the edifice. At this time it was decided that it 
should be a frame structure of dimensions, 30 by 40 ft. The 


444 HistoRyY OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


committee on site consisted of Daniel Warner, Israel Reichard, 
and John Snyder. 

At the next meeting the committee reported that two lo- 
cations had been offered them, and the one deemed preferable 
was on the land of Henry Noss. The men appointed as the 
building committee, authorized to begin work on the building at 
once, were Daniel Warner, John Heffner, Peter Wambach, John 
Snyder, Benjamin Tyson, Israel Reichard. These acquitted 
themselves like men in all their work, so that the work of building 
went on in all peace and harmony. The corner stone was laid, 
August 27, 1878, with appropriate services by Revs. A. W. Lilly, 





ST. JAMES LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., Pa. 


L. A. Gotwald, and L. H. Sechrist, assisted by Revs. J. A. Conoway, 
P. Lane, and Pastor Peter Warner. The work was rapidly pushed 
to completion, and on January 5, 1879, the building was conse- 
crated by dedicatory services to the Triune God. This house of 
worship was now the home of the St. James’ congregation of the 
Dallastown Charge, Rev. Peter Warner, Pastor. 

Pastor Warner served this charge until March 31, 1882, when 
his resignation became effective. ‘Two weeks later he was called 
to his eternal home, and was buried at Manchester, Md. » 

October 1, 1882, Rev. Edwin Lenhart became pastor of the 
charge of which this church was a part until 1885 when the Dallas- 
town Charge was divided and this congregation was made a part 
of the newly formed Lebanon Charge. Pastor Lenhart continued 
to serve the Dallastown Charge. The Lebanon Charge was then 
supplied for several months by Rev. Peter Livingston, a Senior 
in the Gettysburg Theological Seminary. Upon his graduation 
from Seminary, Mr. Livingston accepted a call to become pastor 


YoRK County CONFERENCE 445 


of this charge, and took up his duties July, 1886, and served until 
June 30, 1890, the date of his resignation. 

Rev. Daniel Stoner Kurtz was called to succeed Pastor 
Livingston, and on December 1, 1890, he assumed the responsi- 
bilities of the Lebanon Charge. September 18, 1892, a regularly 
called congregational meeting was held to decide about the en- 
largement of the church. Plans were laid to enlarge the room 
of the church by adding a wing, 30 by 40 ft., and a tower, 8 by 
8 ft. A building committee composed of Daniel Warner, Henry 
Shaull, John Snyder, Samuel Shenberger, and John Fertner, Jr., 
was appointed to work under the direction of the council, and to 
receive subscriptions toward paying for the annex. Appropriate 
ground breaking services were held November 13, 1892, after 
Luther Day services. The corner stone was laid May 28, 1893, 
with the sermon by Rev. Peter Livingston, and the laying of the 
stone by Pastor Kurtz. The dimensions of the annex were changed 
by the committee to be 30 by 30 ft. For the sake of harmony, 
the change was later sanctioned by vote of the congregation. 
Before the work of building was completed, Rev. Kurtz ended his 
labors in the charge, and resigned December 31, 1893. One 
month later, Rev. Edmund Manges took up the work, succeeding 
Pastor Kurtz, February 1, 1894. 

The enlarged church was completed and rededicated, May 
27, 1894. During the fall of 1898, the Lebanon Charge was 
divided by action of Synod, and subsequently by action of the 
York County Conference. When this action went into effect 
April 1, 1899, St. James’ congregation was combined with St. 
Luke’s congregation to become a newly formed charge. Rev. 
Manges, therefore, resigned as pastor of these two congregations, 
continuing as pastor of the Lebanon Charge. Eighty-two persons 
were received into membership, eighty-nine children were baptized, 
and twenty-three funeral services were held while Rev. Manges 
was pastor of St. James’ congregation. 

The newly formed charge, composed of St. James’ and St. 
Luke’s congregations, became the Chanceford Charge. The first 
pastor to be called was Rev. H. C. Salem, who took up the labors 
of his pastorate, December 9, 1899, serving until December 19, 
1903. From that date, the charge was vacant until April 1, 1904, 
when Rev. C. W. Sechrist became pastor. Rev. Sechrist served 
until March 27, 1912, and was succeeded by Rev. C. H. Shull, 
December 1, 1912. Rev. Shull did a very constructive work 
while pastor, particularly in the Sunday School. Under his 
leadership, the enrollment of the Sunday School increased, and 
the organization was brought into conformity with the County 
Front Line standards. After a successful pastorate of seven 
years, Rev. Shull was called to become pastor of the Lebanon 
Charge, and resigned the work of the Chanceford Charge, August, 
1, 1918. 


446 History or West P 
Rev. William H. Peters, a gr 
ical Seminary at Gettysburg, wa 
beginning his pastorate, May 28, 
three and one-half years, Rev. 


ENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


aduate of the Lutheran Theolog- 
s called to succeed Pastor Shull, 
1920. After laboring for nearly 
Peters concluded his work by 


resignation, taking effect October 14, 1923. 


The present pastor, Rev. Gl 
the Chanceford Charge which be 


St. James’ Congregation may 
take great pride in the unusual 
distinction of having a family 
from which three sons have gone 
forth in response to the call to 
the gospel ministry. These are 
sons of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Cur- 
ran, hey J.) Do Curran. aue- 
sionary to Liberia, Africa; Rev. 
A. C. Curran, pastor at Oster- 
burg, Pa.; sand George J. Curran, 
in preparation for the responsi- 
bilities of the ministry in the 
college at Gettysburg, Pa. These 
sons were reared by consecrated 
Christian parents in southern 
York Co., Pa. Their elementary 
education was received in the pub- 
lic schools of Chanceford Town- 
ship. 





REV) Ase UCR AN 


enn T. Hafer, accepted a call to 
came effective June 1, 1924. 





REVI, Ds CuRean 


The oldest of these, Joseph - 
Daniel, continued his training in 
the York Co. Academy and at 
the Millersville State Normal 
School. After teaching several 
years, he entered the college of 
Susquehanna University, and 
continued through the seminary 
of the same institution until his 
eraduation, May, 1911. He was 
appointed to the Muhlenburg 
Mission, Monrovia, Liberia, Af- 
rica, June 10, 1911, inwhich field 
he is serving at the present 
time. 

Andrew C. Curran prepared 
for college in the preparatory 
school of Susquehanna Univer- 


sity, and continued his training through the college and seminary 


YoRK CouNntTy CONFERENCE 447 


departments, being graduated 
from the latter in 1912. Since 
that time, he has served pastor- 
ates at Glassport, Jennerstown, 
and his present field at Oster- 
burg, all of Pennsylvania. 

The youngest of this worthy 
trio, George J. Curran, entered 
Gettysburg Academy in 1919, 
and will be graduated from the 
college this coming year. He 
will enter Seminary to complete 
his preparation for his Master’s 
work. 

It would be a record worthy 
of note should every congrega- 
tion of our church give three sons 
to the ministry in one generation. Rev. Gro. J. Curran 
This has not been the fact but it 
should be a worthy ideal. In this family referrred to above, we 
have an example of how such an ideal might be realized. 








et LUKE'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK CO’, PA. 
(Chanceford Charge) 


Rev. GLENN T. Harer, Pastor 


St. Luke’s congregation originally of Stehle’s church, dates 
from A. D. 1772, when a meeting was held in the German settle- 
ment in Chanceford Township, York Co., Pa., to discuss church, 
school, and community affairs. Mr. Stehle, a freeholder, and older 
member of the community, offered the land for a church, school, 
and graveyard, for which the community agreed to pay seven 
shillings and six pence per acre. Michael Worm and Peter 
Schneider were appointed to arrange for the deed. On this land, 
the community began the building of a church on August 15, 
1772. Stephen Stehle was appointed to arrange for the altar, 
pulpit, and chairs. These furnishings were later made by Casper 
Seiler. This church was a log structure one story in height. The 
congregation was organized August 22, 1773. 

It may be of interest to quote the following from the trans- 
lation of the German record: “Alpha and Omega. Church Book 
and Protocol of the United Evangelical Congregation in Chance- 
ford Township, organized in the Year 1773. In the year of our 
Lord, 1772, have we Lutheran and Reformed church members 
united with one another to build a joint church on the land of 


4AS History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Jacob Stehle, which church shall remain a Lutheran and Reformed 
as long as the sun and moon shall stand. If one party has a 
preacher, the other party shall help to support. If they have two 
pastors, the one shall not interfere with the other’s time, or be a 
hindrance to him.” 

The first officers elected by the congregation were Jacob 
Gerringer and George Illes. Rev. Lucas Raus, the organizer and 
first pastor of the congregation, was born in Kromstadt, Hungary. 
His father was a pastor in his native town. After attending the 





ST. LuUKE’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


University of Jena, Rev. Raus sailed from Rotterdam in 1749. 
When he landed in Philadelphia on November 22, 1749, he became 
assistant to Rev. Muhlenburg at Germantown, Pa. In 1758 he 
was called from Goschenhoppen, Montgomery Co., to Yorktown 
(now York) Pa., from which place he was called to organize and 
serve Stehle’s church in connection with the congregations of 
Shuster’s, Bermudian, Kreutzcreek, and Chockley’s churches. 
Upon leaving this charge in 1787, he returned to Goschenhoppen. 

The officers during the first decade of the church’s history 
were: Jacob Geringer, George Illies, Nicholas Straher, Jacob 
Stehle, Peter Schneider, Jacob Grant, Michael Worm, and Michael 
Gohn. The first baptism recorded was that of Andrew Stehle, 
son of Andrew and Anna Mary Stehle, born April 2, 1773, bap- 
tized August 22, 1773. The first wedding was that of Jacob 
Kamer and Elizabeth Flamm. 

After Pastor Raus left, no definite record can be found of the 
pastors until after 1800. The following men are believed to have 
served during this time: Revs. Timotheus Kuhl; Bentz; A. Gernal; 
Heisley; August Rutz; and George Graber. Rev. Rutz was 


YorK County CONFERENCE 4AQ 


licensed as a catechist in 1792 for Shuster’s, Blymire’s, Frey’s, 
Sadler’s and Stehle’s churches. The name of the first mentioned 
Reformed pastor was Rev. Ernst who served at the same time as 
Rey. Bentz. 

From 1804 to 1807, Conrad Rehman and Rev. Edinger were 
the Lutheran and Reformed pastors respectively. Revs. John 
Herbst and J. A. Shaull were colleagues from 1813 to 1819 when 
Rev. Herbst recorded his last communion. From 1820 to 1830 
the Lutheran congregation was served by Rev. Henry George 
Stecher who was succeeded by Rev. John Graber until possibly, 
1832. Rev. Peter Harmon is next recorded as pastor from 1839 
to 1852. Revs. Kaempfer, father and son, served from 1852 to 
1861. About this time the church was rebuilt. A brick structure 
was built to replace the old log one. 

In 1862 the Rev. John Conoway accepted a call to four 
congregations of the old Windsor charge including Stehle’s. Rev. 
Conoway was of Irish and Roman Catholic parentage, but in 
early y outh united with the Lutheran church at York, and studied 
theology under his pastor Dr. Schmucker, and was licensed to 
preach in 1861 at Shippensburg, and was ordained at Mechanics- 
burg in 1862. Stehle’s church belonged to his first charge, and 
upon leaving here, he was called to the New Salem Charge. In 
1871 the Dallastown Charge was formed out of the old Windsor 
Charge of which this congregation was a part, and the Rev. 
Peter Warner became pastor. Rev. Warner is remembered today 
by some of our older members as being a very faithful and devoted 
pastor. During his pastorate of eleven years, 97 persons were 
received into membership of the congregation. His labors ended 
in this charge March 31st, 1892, two weeks after which he was 
called to his eternal reward. His successor was the Rev. Edwin 
Lenhart who came to the Dallastown Charge, October 1, 1882. 
In 1885 the Dallastown Charge was divided, and the Lebanon 
Charge was formed to include Stehle’s church. Rev. Lenhart 
continued to serve the Dallastown Charge, and therefor resigned 
as pastor of Steble’s church, October 1, 1885. During his pastor- 
ate at Stehle’s, 20 members were received into the church and 20 
children were baptized. The newly-formed Lebanon Charge was 
supplied for some months by Rev. Peter Livingston, a student of 
the Gettysburg Theological Seminary. After his eraduation from 
the Seminary, he was called to become pastor of ‘the charge, and ° 
began his labors as pastor in July, 1886. During his pastorate 
the Lutheran congregation purchased the interest in the property 
held by the Reformed people, so that it ceased to be a union 
church. In 1889, two acres were purchased adjoining the church, 
and ground was broken September 8, 1889, for a new church 
building. On September 138, the corner stone was laid, and the 
following April the new frame church was dedicated. The name 
of the congregation was at this time changed from Stehle’s to St. 


450 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Luke’s. During Rev. Livingston’s pastorate, which closed June 
30, 1890, 26 members were received into the congregation. 


Rev. Daniel Stoner Kurtz became Rev. Livingston’s suc- 
cessor, as pastor of the Lebanon Charge, December 1, 1890. Rev. 
Kurtz labored in this charge for three years and one month. 
During this time, German preaching was discontinued in the 
charge. One month after Rev. Kurtz’s resignation, Rev. E. Man- 
ges became pastor, February 1, 1894. During his pastorate, the 
debt of the congregation was liquidated and several improvements 
were made, the most important of which were the erection of a 
neat iron fence in front of the church, and the planting of shade 
trees secured by the pastor. The membership of the church was 
enlarged by the reception of 47 members and the baptism of 34 
children. On September 29, 1898, the congregation celebrated 
the 125th anniversary of its founding. This service consisted of 
the reading of the 84th and 85th Psalms by Rev. Lenhart, the 
oldest living ex-pastor, followed by prayer by Rev. Peter Living- 
ston. Reminiscences were made by Pastors Lenhart and Liv- 
ingston. At the evening service, Rev. George W. Enders, D. D.., 
preached the anniversary sermon from Ecclesiastes 1:4. Pastor 
Manges also read a congregational history at this service. Rev. 
Manges resigned as pastor of St. Luke’s congregation April 1, 
1899, in accordance with the action of the Synod to divide the 
Lebanon Charge, making a new charge to include the congrega- 
tions of St. James’ and St. Luke’s churches. This became known 
as the Chanceford Lutheran Charge. Rev. Manges continued to 
serve the Lebanon Charge. 


The first pastor called to the newly-formed charge of St. 
James’ and St. Luke’s congregations was Rev. H. C. Salem, who 
assumed the responsibilities, December 9, 1899, and continued to 
serve until December 19, 1903. He was succeeded by Rev. C. W. 
Sechrist, April 1, 1904. Pastor Sechrist was a very active man 
in spite of his advanced years. The spiritual life of the congre- 
gation was deeply revived through his efforts. His labors in this 
charge were concluded by his resignation, March 27, 1912. 

Rev. C. H. Shull accepted a call to succeed Rev. Sechrist, 
and began his pastoral labors December 1, 1912. Seven years 
of remarkable progress mark the pastorate of Rev. Shull. Under 
his leadership, the Sunday School was completely organized; new 
interest was aroused so that the enrollment increased very ap- 
preciably. The church property was likewise improved. A cem- 
etery organization was effected, the cemetery improved, and pro- 
vision made for its perpetual care. Pastor Shull resigned from 
this charge August 1, 1919, after accepting a call to the Lebanon 
Charge. 

During the vacancy following Rev. Shull’s pastorate, the lo- 
cation of the parsonage was changed to the village of Conrads, 


YoRK County CONFERENCE A51 


near St. Luke’s church, where a house was purchased and com- 
fortably equipped with modern conveniences. 

Rev. W. H. Peters, Jr., succeeded Pastor Shull, taking active 
charge of the field May 28, 1920, upon his graduation from Sem- 
inary. After serving the charge for over three years, Rev. Peters 
concluded his pastorate, resigning October 14, 1923. 

As successor to Rev. Peters, the Rev. Glenn T. Hafer, a 
recent graduate from the Gettysburg Seminary, assumed the re- 
sponsibilities of the charge June 1, 1924, and is serving at the 
present time. 

About the same time that plans were being made for the 
building of the first church, one young man from this community 
felt the call to the gospel 
ministry. Among the first 
of the native born Amer- 
ican pastors was this young 
man, who became the Rev. 
Jacob Goering, whose home 
was almost within sight of 
the present church edifice. 
Jacob Goering, the son of 
Jacob and Margaret Goer- 
ing, was born in the year 
1755, and was reared on 
the farm of his father. 
Early in his boyhood, he 
showed an eagerness for 
learning, and when eighteen 
vears of age, he became 
the teacher of an English 
school in his community. 
Later his father took him 
to Lancaster, Where he stud- 
ied for two years under the 
tutelage of the Rev. Dr. 
Helmuth. In 1776, he was 
ordained to become pastor 
of the congregations in and 
about Carlisle, which he served for several vears. He was married 
to Miss Elizabeth Kurtz, daughter of the Rev. N. Kurtz, pastor 
of the York church, and whose successor Rev. Goering later 
became. 

About 1783, Rev. Goering became assistant to Rev. Kurtz in 
York, and at Rev. Kurtz’s retirement in 1786, he became sole 
pastor of the York charge, which he served until he was called to 
become pastor of the congregation of Hagerstown in 1791. After 
three years there, he was induced to return to the York charge 
which he served until his death from tuberculosis in 1807. The 





Rev. JACOB GOERING 


452 


History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD. 


Rev. Goering Was a man zealous in learning and profound in 


thought. 


His studies embraced much of the literature of the 
oriental languages, particularly, of Hebrew and Arabic. 


He was 


known as a fine scholar, an eloquent preacher, and a warm-hearted 


Christian. 




















Rev. B. Crinron Ritz 


The second son of this old 
congregation to take up the ac- 
tive ministry was B. Clinton 
Ritz, son of Henry and Elizabeth 
Markel Ritz, who is at the 
present time pastor of St. James’ 
Lutheran Church of York, Pa., 
in connection with the history of 
which church will be found a 
brief biographical sketch. 





Rives Gs E-ENGH 


PasToR oF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, DALLASTOWN, Pa. 


Rev. Seibert Lee Hench, son 
of Wiliam Monroe and Matilda 
Emmaline Hench, was born Sep- 
tember 29th, 1885, near Kistler, 
Perry County, Pa. His father 
being a farmer, he naturally was 
raised as a tiller of the soil. His 
early education was confined to 
the public schools. At the age 
of seventeen he began teaching 
school at Stony Point, Pa. In 
1905-19065 he attended the New 
Bloomfield Academy and in the 
fall of the same year he entered 
Gettysburg College and com- 
pleted the Freshman year. In 
the fall of 1907 he entered AI- 
bright College and graduated in 
1910 receiving the degree of A. B. 





YoRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 453 


In the fall of 1910 he entered Gettysburg Seminary and graduated 
from the same institution in 19138. 

As a boy he attended the United Evangelical church and 
Sunday School at Stony Point and was confirmed by Rev. A. S. 
Baumgardner. In 1910 he with his parents moved to Blain, Pa., 
and the family united with Zion Lutheran church, Rev. J. C. 
Reichard pastor. 

On October 10th, 1912, he was licensed by the Central Penna. 
Synod, which met in Mifflintown, and was ordained by the West 
Penna. Synod in College Lutheran church, Gettysburg, October 
16th, 1913: 

His first pastorate was the West Manheim Charge, Hanover, 
Pa. While pastor of this Charge a new church was built at 
Sherman’s at a cost of $15,000. Having received a call from 
Christ Lutheran Congregation of Dallastown, Pa., he entered upon 
his second pastorate June 30th, 1915. 

The outstanding features of his present pastorate are: the 
building up of a strong congregation numbering 465 with a live 
Sunday School and other flourishing organizations; a debt of over 
$7,000 has been canceled and a building fund of $28,000 has been 
secured; the church has been frescoed, three additional lots pur- 
chased, brick garage erected; Common Service adopted with 
vested choir; and the congregation brought from one of the de- 
linquent charges in benevolence to one of the honor congregations 
of the Synod. 

On June 5th, 19138, he married Miss Edna Stupp Uhrich, of 
Myerstown, Pa. Four children, William Lee, Marian Tryphene, 
John Richard, and Rachel Elizabeth, have been born to bless this 
union. 





CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, DALLASTOWN, PA. 
Rev. 8. L. Hencu, Pastor 


The first Lutheran and Reformed church of Dallastown was 
organized May 3, 1854, the cfficial name being “‘St. Paul’s Luth- 
eran and German Reformed Church.’ In the year 1850 the Ro- 
man Catholic and the United Brethren churches were organized 
in Dallastown. The Lutheran and the Reformed people who then 
worshiped at Bleimier’s, which is located just about a mile south 
of town, felt the need of a church in Dallastown, to care for the 
people of their faith. Thus about 16 or 18 people who were 
members of St. John’s Lutheran and Reformed, commonly known 
as “Bleimeir’s,’ withdrew from the mother church and effected 
an organization in Dallastown. Of the 16 or 18 members who 
formed the new organization, only four were Lutherans. 


454 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


On May 3, 1854, the first meeting was held and an organiza- 
tion was effected. The work of building a new church was begun 
and completed the same year. This fraternal union of church 
fellowship existed until May 23, 1887, when it was considered 
for the best interest of the Master’s kingdom that these two con- 
eregations should erect their separate places of worship. After 
some controversy, the Reformed congregation purchased the 





First LUTHERAN CHuRcH BUILT IN DALLASTOWN, PA. 


Union church for $800. 

The following Lutheran pastors served the charge at that 
time consisting of Dallastown, Freysville, Lebanon, St. James’, 
Stahle’s, and Bleimeir’s: Rev. A. Kempler, Rev. John Conway, 
Rev. Peter Warner, Rev. Edward Lenhart, and Rev. C. W. Baker. 

In 1890 Saddler’s church was added, and in the next few 
years new charges were formed; so that in 1894 Dallastown and 
Bleimeir’s formed a charge, which continued for many years, until 
Bleimeir’s became a preaching station. 

On June 5th, 1887, the Lutheran congregation appointed a 
building committee with Rev. C. W. Baker chairman. On June 
llth, 1887, a plot of ground was purchased for $600 on Main 
St., and the building of the new church was begun at once. The 
oldest member of the congregation was given the opportunity of 
selecting a name for the new congregation. The name selected 
was Christ Lutheran. 

The congregation grew very rapidly, and in 1909 it was found 
necessary to erect a larger church. Work was begun on the first 
unit, the contemplated chapel and auditorium. In February 1911, 
the present Sunday School, which is modern in every respect and 
well adapted to present Sunday School work, was dedicated, at 


YorRK CouNnry CONFERENCE 455 


a cost of $15,000. In 1913 a modern brick parsonage was erected 
on the adjoining lot. It is the hope of this loyal congregation to 
erect a beautiful and commodious church in the near future which 
will be a credit to Lutheranism in this part of the state. 








CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, DALLASTOWN, PA. 


The congregation numbers 465 at present. The following 
pastors have served Christ Lutheran. 


Revs Oe We bakely i: pesiee ee re 1887—1888 
Rev..M. V. Shatto............1889—1892 
Leven Vise lena eee ee 1892—1894. 
Revel@B Christe. oe ee et S95 15904 
Hey ae Lob aleres ee ee 1898—1902 
Je eai oA yak CNN Rane uclae obs t(Be 1902—-1904 
Rev. Samuel Greenhoe........ 1904—1912 
eva eNeoCiindlcr sient 1913—1915 


Reyes > ue Henchy es ae F915 


456 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 
REV. G. A. LIVINGSTON 
PASTOR OF THE DILLSBURG CHARGE 


Rev. G. A. Livingston was 
born August 3d, 1872, near New 
Oxford, Pa. His parents were 
Edward Livingston and Amanda 
(Diehl) Livingston. The 18th 
of December, 1886, he united 
with the Lutheran Church of 
New Oxford, by Confirmation. 
The pastor at that time was Rev. 
John Tomlinson. In the fall of 
1891 he entered the preparatory 
Department of Gettysburg Col- 
lege for the purpose of preparing 
for the ministry; and in 1896 
entered the Junior Class of Sus- 
quehanna University, at Selins 
Grove, graduating in 1898 from 
the Classical Department, and 
in 1901 from the Theological De- 
partment. 


In the spring of 1901 he was ordained by the Susquehanna 
Synod. That same year he accepted a call to the Lebanon Charge 
in the West Pennsylvania Synod. During this pastorate a par- 
sonage was bought. June 18th, 1902, he was married to Miss 
Anna Elizabeth Haas of Selins Grove, Pa. ‘To this union were 
born four children, J. Warner, Edward H., Arthur George and 
Donald B. Arthur George died in infancy. 


September 1, 1904, his resignation took effect at the Lebanon 
Charge, and he entered upon his work as pastor of Emmanuel 
Lutheran Church, of York. February 16th, 1907, he organized 
Grace Lutheran Church with 100 members, of which he became 
the pastor in connection with Emmanuel. During this pastorate 
Grace Lutheran Church building of York was erected. 


September 1, 1913, his resignation took effect at Grace and 
Emmanuel, and he began work at that time in Messiah Lutheran 
Church of Downingtown, Pa., in the East Pennsylvania Synod. 
He accepted a call to the Starview Charge April 1, 1915. During 
this pastorate the Lutheran Church at Mt. Wolf was built. April 
16th, 1922, he resigned the Starview Charge to accept a call to 
Dillsburg Charge May 15, 1922. 





cl | 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE AD5 


EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
FRANKLINTOWN, PENNA. 


(Dillsburg Charge) 
Rev. Grorce A. LIVINGSTON, PAsToR 


June 12th, 1882, the first meeting was held to consider the 
erection of a Lutheran church in Franklintown, Pa. Mr. Jacob 
Lau was elected temporary chairman, and P. R. Lehmer tem- 
porary secretary. An effort was then made to raise the necessary 
funds. May 30th, 1883, another meeting was held at which time 
Rev. Henry Seifert was elected permanent chairman and P. R. 
Lehmer, secretary. The Building Committee was then elected, 
namely: John Klugh, P. R. Lehmer, William Straley. June 12th, 
1884, Jacob Lau and Fredrich Murry were added to the Building 
Committee. 

At a meeting held July 18th, 1883, John Klugh donated ground 
on Water Street upon which to build the church. The corner- 
stone of the new church was laid July 19th, 1884; the following 
taking part in the service: Revs. Henry Seifert, Adam Stump, 
and A. EK. Ehart. May 16th, 1886, the church was dedicated. 
The following ministers had part in the service: Revs. Henry 
Seifert, D. Sell, E. D. Weigel and A. E. Ehart. 

Forty-six members were enrolled when the church was or- 
ganized. The first Council was elected March 24th, 1887, at 
which time the new pastor, Rev. W. L. Heisler, presided. The 
council elected were as follows: Trustees, William Straley, P. R. 
Lehmer and Fredrich Murry; Elders, John Klugh and Allen 
Kline; Deacons, D. B. Baker and W. H. Strickler. 

March 31st, 1887, the congregation adopted a constitution. 
June 18th, 1887, it was received into the Clear Spring Charge 
composed of Salem, Bermudian, St. John’s and Chestnut Grove. 
January 21st, 1888, there was a readjustment of the charge, 
Bermudian, Chestnut Grove and York Springs to be known as 
the York Spring Charge; and Salem, Emmanuel, St. John’s and 
St. Paul’s of Dillsburg to form a charge to be known as the Clear 
Springs Charge. October 17th, 1887, Emmanuel of Franklintown 
was received into the West Pennsylvania Synod. The Charter 
was granted in 1887. 

The first Sunday School was held December 27th, 1885, and 
now has a membership of 98. This congregation has always been 
connected with the Clear Springs Charge, now known as the Dills- 
burg Charge. The congregation now has a membership of 73; 
it also has a Ladies’ Aid Society and a Christian Endeavor Society, 


A458 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 











LUTHERAN PARSONAGE, DILLSBURG, PA. 


SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH 


ST. PAUL S LUTHERAN CHURCH 
St. JOHN’Ss LUTHERAN CHURCH EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH 


YORK COUNTY CONFERENCE 459 


In 1923 the congregation secured modern pews to take the place 
of the. old board pews, and all the wood work of the inside of the 
church has been revarnished. 

The present council consists of the following men: John 
Chronister, James Lau, Harrison Byers, Jacob Peterman, George 
Arnold and Lewis Lau. 

The following pastors have served the Church: Rev. Henry 
Seifert, 1883-1887; Rev. W. L. Heisler, 1887-1891; Rev. W.S. T. 
Metzgar, 1891-1899; Rev. A. R. Longanecker, 1899-1902; Rev. H. 
EK. Zimmerman, 1903-1905; Rev. J. T. Fox, 1905-1907; Rev. Ira 
W. Trostel, 1907-1913; Rev. George H. Eveler, 1913-1922; Rev. 
G. A. Livingston, 1922—. 


SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Dillsburg Charge) 


Rev. G. A. Livineston, Pastor 


Salem, or Barrens, Lutheran Church as it is commonly known 
is one of the old landmarks of Washington Township, situated in 
the upper end of the Township in York County. 


The first building was a log church which was dedicated to 
the service of God on the first day of January, 1812. This build- 
ing stood for fiftv-three years. The Lutheran pastor at this time 
was Rev. John Adam Rudisill and the Reformed pastor was Rev. 
Charles Helfenstine; and the Building Committee were: David 
Shearer, Reformed, and George Gentzler, Lutheran; and the Luth- 
eran Council were: Elder, Nicolas Bentz and Deacons: Jacob 
Bentz and George Lau. There seems to be no record as to when 
the congregation was organized. The first grave in the cemetery 
was that of Barbara Shetron, who died on the 11th day of August, 
1811. Near this building was a stone school house in which was 
kept a parocial school supported by the Church until the day of 
free schools. April Ist, 1863, plans and_ specifications were 
adopted for a new church to take the place of the old log church. 
The new church was built of brick, 38x50 feet, with a gallery on 
three sides of the church. The corner stone was laid May 16th, 
1864; the ministers who took part in this service were the Lutheran 
pastor, Rev. A. Finfrock and Rev. Frey of Carlisle; and the Re- 
formed pastor, Rev. D. Reigle and Rev. W. C. Bennet of Boiling 
Springs; addresses were delivered by Rev. Frey and Rev. Bennet. 

The church was dedicated to the service of God on the 21st 
of May, 1866. Tbe ministers who took part in this service were 
the Lutheran pastor, Rev. Peter Warner, M. J. Alleman of Han- 


460 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


over, and 8S. Dasher, and Rev. J. Ault of the Reformed Church of 
Mechanicsburg. The total cost of the church is given as $4710. 105 
This church is standing today. A joint charter was granted to 
the Lutheran and Reformed Church, January 2nd, 1855. 

In the latter part of the year of 1928, there was placed in 
the York Trust Company over five thousand dollars, of which 
the interest shall be used for the care of the cemetery; the sum 
was given by friends and members of Salem (Barrens) Church. 
The Lutheran congregation now report 191 members with a Sun- 
day School of 280 and a Christian Endeavor Society. The 
Church Council consists of the following: Trustees, Lutheran, J. 
G. Deardorff, Lewis Bentz, and C. E. Cook; Reformed, John E. 
Byers, Searight Nell, Harry Kinter; Lutheran, Deacons, L. M. 
Kinter, H. F. Myers, W. M. Grove; Lutheran Elders, William 
Bentz and Lewis R. Bentz. 

The following is a list of the pastors who served the Church: 
Rev. John Andrew Rudisill; David Kesler; Jacob Albert; A. G. 
Deininger; Daniel Gotwalt: John Weibel; William German, 1841- 
1844; Samuel Henry, 1844-1853; Joseph Focht, 1855-1859; Aaron 
Finfrock, 1859-1864; Peter Warner, 1864-1868; J. R. Bricker, 
1869-1871; Daniel Sell, 1872-1873; Kutz, Supply for a short time; 
E. Studebaker, 1874- 1876; Henry Seifert, 1876-1886; from this 
date the charge has been as at present constituted and pastors 
are the same as listed in the sketch of Emmanuel Lutheran Church. 





ST. JOHN’S (FRANKLIN) LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
YOR KEC © WINGY As 


(Dillsburg Charge) 
Rev. G. A. Livineston, Pastor 


St. John’s Lutheran Church of Diilsburg Charge is known as 
the Franklin Church. The date of the organization of this con- 
gregation is unknown; in fact very little of her early history is 
known. On the 9th day of December, 1794, a warrant was 
eranted to George Heigas for a survey for 15 acres of land fora 
German Lutheran and Presbyterian Church. The survey was 
made February 27th, 1795, for 10 acres 1538 perches of land. 
The following Act of Assembly, 1822, is recorded: ‘In trust and 
for the sole use and benefit of the German Lutheran and Presby- 
terian Congregations who now worship in the house thereon 
erected and their successors.”’ ‘Trustees shall be four.’’? This 


YorK County CONFERENCE AO] 


gave them a patent dated March 28th, 1822. The trustees at this 
time were John Shultz, David Myers, Valentine Heigas and Michael 
Bender. As early as 1766 Valentine Kinter was buried in the 
cemetery, which is reported to be the first grave at this place. 
The first church was a log. weather-boarded building. The York 
County History says it was established before the Revolution. 
Near this old church stood a school house that was supported by 
the congregation for about fifty years. 

In 1847 the old church was abandoned and a new brick church 
built which cost at that time $3,000. The building committee 
were Peter Wolford, George Dick and Jacob Stickel. This build- 
ing was 45x55 feet, two stories. The first story was used for 
prayer meetings; the Sunday School was held in this room. The 
second story was the auditorium containing a gallery on three 
sides. 


March 16th, 1901, the following committee was appointed 
to remodel this church: Rev. A. R. Longanecker, who was the 
Lutheran pastor at this time, chairman, George Dick, James Lau 
(Lutherans), D. F. Stitzel and C. 8. Hinkle, (Reformed). The 
roof and floor were lowered three feet, making the building a one 
story church, containing an auditorium and an infant room. To 
this building was added a tower 12x12 feet, with a bell. The 
church was completed in December of the same year. In 1919 
there was placed in the church a Lally Electric plant at a cost of 
about $600.00. 


In 1873 St. John’s or Franklin as it is known. was connected 
with the Dillsburg Charge, composed of St. John’s, Bermudian, 
Salem and Dillsburg. There is no doubt this charge was com- 
posed of about the same churches for some years before. Yet we 
have no record to show this. In 1874 St. Paul’s withdrew from 
the charge. June 17th, 1877, Chestnut Grove became part of 
the charge. In 1883, the name was changed to the Clear Spring 
Charge. In 1888 a readjustment of the charges took place, St. 
John’s (Franklin), Salem (Barrens), St. Paul’s of Dillsburg and 
Emmanual of Franklintown forming a charge to be known as 
the York Springs Charge. 

The congregation now has a membership of 133 and a Sunday 
School of 162, an active Christian Endeavor Society as well as a 
Ladies’ Aid Society. The members of the Church Council are: 
Trustees, George Dick, John Blackford and DavidSlothour: Elders, 
Otto Spahr and James Coulson; Deacons, John Blackford and 
Charles R. Angel. 


The following is a list, as complete as seems possible, of the 
ministers that have served this congregation: Revs. A. G. Deininger 


462 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


—— Gotwald; —— Weil; Peter Sheurer; John Ulrich; Samuel 
Henry, 1850-1853; Joseph Focht, 1855-1859; Aaron Finfrock, 
1859-1864; Peter Warner, 1864-1868; J. R. Bricker, 1869-1871; 
Daniel Sell, 1872-1873; E. Studebaker, 1874-1876; Henry Seifert, 
1876-1886; from this date the Charge has been as at present con- 
stituted, and the pastors are the same as listed in the sketch of 
Emmanuel Lutheran Church. 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, DILLSBURG; PA? 
(Dillsburg Charge) 


Rev. G. A. Livingston, PASTOR 


March 5th, 1855, Rev. Joseph R. Focht became the pastor 
of the Dillsburg Charge. At this time there was no Lutheran 
ehureh in the town of Dillsburg. August 25th, 1855, a meeting 
was held in the school house, and after some consideration they 
decided to build a church. Mr. George Lau agreed to build the 
ehurch for $1250. During the erection of the building the ser- 
vices were held in the school house. 


May, 1856, the corner stone of the new church was laid. Rey. 
D. H. Focht of New Bloomfield preached in German and Rev. 
John A. Evans of Newville preached the English sermon. No- 
vember 16th, 1856, the church was dedicated to the Triune God 
and given the name of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church 
of Dillsburg. Rev. Focht conducted the services and Rev. Ben- 
jamin Kurtz, D. D., LL. D., of Baltimore, preached the dedica- 
tory sermon. 

April 4th, 1857, the congregation was organized by the Rev. 
J. R. Focht in the new church, and adopted a constitution for 
their government, which was signed by the following: John Gable, 
Wilham Reitzel, John Yost, Samuel Wagner, Peter Shriver, An- 
drew Spark, Abraham Rhodes and David Hall. This congrega- 
tion had been organized after the church was built. Twenty 
members partook of the first communion. Miss Sophia Dough- 
erty is the only living charter member; although she is 93, she 
enjoys the Holy Communion, yet unable to attend the service in 
the church. 

The entire cost of the building when completed was $1693.22. 
On the 5th day of March, 1859, Rev. Focht resigned as pastor. 
In 1865 St. Paul’s became an independent church. The church 
was served by Rev. J. R. Goff from 1865-1866. During his pas- 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 463 


torate the Sunday School was organized. November Ist, 1866, 
Rev. J. R. Goff resigned. The same month Rev. J. T. Williams 
was elected pastor. He remained until the following July, 1867. 
Beginning with the Ist of April, 1868, Rev. A. Babb supplied the 
pulpit for eleven months. March 21st, 1869, Rev. J. K. Bricker 
preached his first sermon. It seems that about this time St. 
Paul’s again became a part of the Dillsburg Charge, making four 
Churches in the Charge, Salem, St. John’s, Bermudian and St. 
Paul’s, making the charge the same as 1t was before the separation. 


January 15th, 1871, Rev. J. K. Bricker resigned as pastor of 
the Dillsburg Charge, January Ist, 1872, Rev. Daniel Sell be- 
came the pastor. 


May 10th, 1874, St. Paul’s of Dillsburg withdrew from the 
charge. December, 1875, St. Paul’s united with the Rossville 
Charge. On the 8th of July, 1883, St. Paul’s severed its connec- 
tion with the Rossville Charge and became a part of the York 
Springs Charge, of which Rev. Adam Stump was the pastor. Rev. 
Adam Stump delivered his farewell address October 25th, 1885. 
In 1888 a readjustment of the charge took place, St. John’s 
(Franklin), Salem (Barrens), St. Paul’s and Emmanuel forming 
a charge to be known as the Clear Springs Charge. This charge 
is now known as the Dillsburg Charge. In 1892 the church was 
enlarged and remodeled at a cost of $1995; these improvements 
were made under the pastorate of Rev. W. 8. T. Metzger. 


In 1909, under the pastorate of Rev. I. W. Trostel, the con- 
gregation purchased a property on the corner of Baltimore and 
Hanover Streets as a church site for the new church at a cost of 
$1720, and in 1912 a home was bought for a parsonage at a cost 
of $2200. 


In 1913 a fire broke out in the town at which time eight 
buildings were destroyed, among which were the church and par- 
sonage. The new pastor, Rev. George H. Eveler, had just ar- 
rived and moved into the parsonage and lost almost all in the 
parsonage. However, the loyal people set to work to rebuild. 
They erected a new church, 107x50 feet, built of red brick and 
stone trimming, containing a large auditorium and Sunday School! 
room, equipped with steam heat and electric hight. The building 
in those cheaper times cost $19,000. They also built a modern 
brick parsonage with all conveniences costing $3,000. The church 
was dedicated September 13th, 1914; services were conducted by 
the pastor, Rev. G. H. Eveler; H. H. Weber, D. D., of York had 
charge of the finances. The building committee were William 
Seibert, J. K. Evans, W. P. Deardorff, Allen Kline, Samuel E. 
Wagener, H. L. Miller, J. 8. Kapp. 

The present church council are: Trustees, W. P. Deardorff, 
G. E. Seibert and J. W. Grove; Elders, G. C. Fishel and J. K. 
Rupp; Deacons, J. A. Goudy, and J. S. Kapp. The congregation 


464 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


now has a membership of 289 and a Sunday School of 336. The 
congregation has a Ladies’ Aid Society, Woman’s Missionary 
Society, Young Woman’s Missionary Society and Light Brigade 
and Christian Endeavor. The following is a list of the pastors: 
Revs. Joseph R. Focht, 1855-1859; Aaron Finfrock, 1859-1864; 
J. R. Groff, 1865-1866; J. T. Williams, 1866-1867; A. Babb, 1868- 
1869; J. K. Bricker, 1869-1871; D. Sell, 1872-1874; E. Studebaker, 
1875-1876; J. F. Dietterick, 1876-1877;. E. Minter, 1877-1881; 
Adam Stump, 1881-1885; from this date the Charge has been as 
at present constituted, and the pastors are the same as listed in 
the sketch of Emmaunel Lutheran Church. 


YorRK CouNnrTy CONFERENCE 465 
RE Vesa oe VUeeVLeY Bika 
PASTOR OF THE GLEN Rock CHARGE 


Rev. L. F. M. Myers is a son 
of Francis Marion Myers and 
his wife, Margaret Louisa, nee 
Minor, and was born on a farm 
in the southern part of Frederick 
County, Maryland, on the 18th 
day of February, 1866. His pre- 
liminary education was secured 
in the local public schools. His 
first real adventure was that of a 
farmer. About the time he be- 
came ‘‘of age” he rented a small 
farm which occupied his atten- 
tion for only two years, when it 
Was given up in response to what 
he conceived to be the call of the 
Holy Spirit to prepare for the 
nobler work of the ministry. In 
preparation for this calling one 
year was spent in a local Normal School at Buckeystown, Mary- 
land, under the direction of Prof. Fleet R. Neighhours, a former 
superintendent of the county schools, two years in Gettysburg 
College, entering with the class of ’95, and three years in the 
Theological Seminary, graduating in 1896. He was licensed to 
preach by the Maryland Synod in 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland, 
and ordained at the next meeting of the Synod in Cumberland, 
Maryland. 


He became the pastor of St. James’ Mission Church, Fred- 
erick, Maryland, on June 1, 1896, where he remained over three 
years. On the advice of the boards of Home Missions and Church 
Extension this mission was abandoned and the property sold. He 
then served successively as pastor of St. Matthew’s Church, 
Chester Springs, Chester County, Pa.; St. Andrew’s, Philadelphia, 
Pa.; Church of Our Saviour, Coatesville, Pa.; St. John’s, Ambler, 
Pa.; and Trinity Church, Darby, Pa. His present pastorate, 1s 
that of the Glen Rock Charge, York County, Pa., dating from 
June 1, 1918. 


He was married on June 30, 1908, to Miss Blanche Marie 
Bohn, of Philadelphia, Pa. Of this union four children were born, 
namely: Lyndon Beaver, Francis Bohn, Marian Marie and Mar- 
gvaret Elizabeth. 





466 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, HAMETOWN, PA. 
(Glen Rock Charge) 


Rev. L. F. M. Myzrs, Pastor 





ST. PAuL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, HAMETOWN, PA. 


St. Paul’s church dates its beginning in July, 1874, when a 
meeting was held in the Hametown school house ‘“‘and the follow- 
ing officers were elected: Jacob Strievig and John Stark, Elders; 
Adam Hain, Adam Lentz, Jacob Hoke and John Stermer, Deacons.”’ 

It happened on this wise: Christ church at Shrewsbury was 
facing the necessity of a new church building, and the members 
in the vicinity of Hametown, having several miles to travel to 
church, decided that the money they might contribute towards 
the new building at Shrewsbury could be used to a better ad- 
vantage by building a little church of their own and forming a 
new congregation. The building process must have been pushed 
very rapidly for on January 11th, 1875, the ‘‘Church Council met 
in St. Paul’s Lutheran church and elected Jacob Strievig, Treas- 
urer, and A. M. Anstine, Secretary.” The earliest record of 
church members 1s May 15, 1875. On this date 41 members were 
received by letter and 20 by confirmation, and the Lord’s Supper 
was celebrated. 


YoRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 467 


The church was built of red bricks, which were made on an 
adjoining farm by Mr. Isaac Diehl, the father of Rev. W. K. 
Diehl. It seats comfortably about 250 people. The Building 
Committee consisted of Frederick B. Anstine, John Stermer, 
Reuben Frey, Levi Seitz, Isaac Diehl and Jacob 8. Seitz. All of 
these are still very familiar family names in the congregation. 
The ground on which the church stands was purchased of Reuben 
Frey and wife for a nominal price, the deed for which was dated 
December 27th, 1875, and is of record April 4th, 1876, at a cost 
of $240.00 : 

The congregation was admitted into the West Pennsylvania 
Svnod on September 19, 1874, and a minute of February 5, 1875, 
shows that ‘“‘By-Laws were drawn up for the benefit of the congre- 
gation,” “pursuant to the action of the Synod and the congrega- 
tion.” The synodical committee having charge of St. Paul’s 
application consisted of John A. Heberling, J. C. Koller and B. 
F. Alleman. 

Rev. J. C. Koller, who was pastor at Glen Rock, was elected 
the first pastor of St. Paul’s and served the congregation as part 
of the Glen Rock Charge for two years. He was succeeded by 
Rev. J. B. Wolf, fresh from Gettysburg Seminary, in July, 1877, 
whose pastorate continued a little more than forty years, and he 
was succeeded by the present incumbent, Rev. L. F. M. Myers, 
in 1918. 

According to the best information, this church had no Sunday 
School for a number of years. There is a record of August 9, 
1890, that the Church Council met a committee of the Hametown 
“Union Sunday School,” which at that time was meeting in the 
school house, and arrangements were made to change the place 
of meeting to the church. This plan prevailed for many years 
until there remained but one family other than Lutheran, namely 
that of Mr. Benjamin Seitz, who suggested to Pastor Wolf that 
there was ‘‘no use continuing a Union school for one family. Let 
it be Lutheran,’’—and so it became. 

In 1913 the church was thoroughly renovated, including a 
new gasoline lighting system and a fence in front of the church, 
which has since been removed. Messrs. B. A. Stermer, J. M. 
Saubel and A. T. Diehl supervised the work and raised the funds 
to pay the bills. 

At the time of its organization St. Paul’s was fortunate in 
having a number of large families. But as the young folks married 
and set out for themselves many of them moved away from the 
neighborhood causing a falling off in the attendance and member- 
ship of the church. But new families are now coming into the 
vicinity and St. Paul’s is being rejuvinated by a new and younger 
element. The church now enrolls 155 communicants and the 
Sunday School 137 members. A very encouraging young people’s 
organization holds interesting weekly meetings and the women of 


468 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the church have formed themselves into a very promising Mission- 
ary Society. The synodical apportionment is met in full. A class 
in Religious Education is conducted regularly every summer by 
the pastor. The transformation of the old Baltimore Pike into 
an eighteen feet wide concrete highway is a big factor in bringing 
new life to the church. 

The congregation has given four of her sons to the Gospel 
Ministry, namely: Rev. John Nicholas, deceased, who gave his 
active service aS a missionary in India; Rev. Andrew 8. Hain, 
deceased; Rev. Wm. K. Diehl, Clear Springs, Md.; and Rev. H. 
C. Brillhart, Leetonia, Ohio. 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, GLEN ROCK, PA. 
(Glen Rock Charge) 


Reva le FOMoMyErs, PAstor 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, GLEN Rock, PA. 


The Glen Rock Charge consists of two churches namely: 
Zion, in the village of Glen Rock, thirteen miles south of York, 
and Saint Paul’s, at Hametown on the Susquehanna Trail, three 
miles farther south. Neither of these congregations can claim 
the reverence due to old age but both enjoy the distinction of a 
fair degree of achievement. | 

Zion is the older of the two and dates its origin in the year of 
1860. Reverend A. Berg, who was pastor of the Shrewsbury 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 469 


charge including the Glen Rock territory, had supervision of the 
movement which resulted in the organization of this congregation. 

“The first meeting of the brethren interested was in Sheffer’s 
room, No. 7 of the Railroad building on August 29, 1860.” A lot 
70x80 feet, which was later changed to 100x941% feet, was offeren 
to the new organization by Mr. Wm. Heathcote on conditiod 
that a church be built within one year. This condition could not 
be met however. But the lot was secured later at a very small 
price and is now the site of a most substantial and beautiful house 
of worship. 

“Only about one dozen male members were associated with 
this new movement yet an effort was made to secure funds for a 
church building.” John 8. Foust, Wm. Boeckel, Dr. Levi Frey, 
Emanuel Sheffer and Philip Sheffer were appointed a committee 
for that purpose. About $1200 was secured. At a subsequent 
meeting in the same room in the Railroad building it was ‘‘Re- 
solved that the church should be built, beginning in the spring 
Ole lobil.* 

The first election of officers occured on October 24, 1860; 
and Messrs. E. K. Bollinger, J. G. Bortner, Philip Sheffer, Charles 
Gladfelter and John Foust (or Lentz) constituted the first church 
council. At the same meeting a committee of five men was ap- 
pointed, evidently to secure a building lot for the church. The 
building committee however consisted of Philip Sheffer, O. R. 
Wentz and John Foust. 

The following January a committee was instructed to secure 
a ‘draft of the church,’ which was presented to the congregation 
on April 11, 1862, and “agreed upon.’ The original building, 
consisting of a basement and auditorium, was erected during the 
summer. A marble slab from the front gable of the building, 
engraved with the date 1862, attests this fact. The cost of the 
church was approximately $4000.00 besides liberal donations in 
gratuitous labor. “Quite an achievement for such a handful of 
people.” Reverends A. Berg and Dr. Lochman, of York, Pa., 
conducted the services at the cornerstone laying; and at the 
dedication, the exact date of which is unknown, though it must 
have been the latter part of 1862 or early in 1863, Reverends A. 
Berg, Dr. Kurtz, of Baltimore, Md., and Dr. A. W. Lilly, of York, 
officiated. 

In the building of the church a considerable debt was in- 
curred. This incumbrance was removed by some of the interested 
men buying several acres of ground, selling it off as building lots, 
and turning the profits over to the church to pay the debt. One 
lot was retained however, on which a parsonage was erected. 
This was a good example for some of our modern business men. 
(The foregoing facts were gathered from surviving Charter Mem- 
bers by Rev. J. B. Wolf, D. D., in 1897.) 

The first enrollment of members occured on June 13, 1868, 


A70 HIsToRY oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


when forty-five members, mostly from Fissel’s and other churches, 
transferred to the new organization. Mrs. Maria Wambaugh is 
the only surviving charter member. 

After the completion of the church the congregation decided 
to become a separate parish, and elected Rev. Jacob Kaempfer as 
the first pastor. Rev. Kaempfer took charge October 1, 1863, 
and served the young charge until October 1, 1867. He was 
succeeded by the Rev. J. C. Koller. 

Application for a charter was made to the court on April 26, 
1864, and granted on August 26, of the same year. A Sunday 
School was organized in December of this same year, the pastor 
acting as superintendent. The classes were first arranged as 
“spelling” and “testament’’ classes, fitness for promotion being 
determined by examination. Afterwards there were added ‘male 
and female Bible classes.’ The records evidence a healthy growth 
in the Sunday School from the beginning. It has always been, 
and still is a great help and credit to the church. . 

The preaching from the beginning seems to have been in 
both German and English. In 1868 new hymn books were se- 
cured, an equal number in each of these languages. A spirit of 
brotherly love seems to have characterized this young church for 
in 1869 the Reformed brethren, desiring to start work in Glen 
Rock, were “granted the use of the church for worship” at a price 
sufficient to cover the extra expenses. From this beginning has 
grown a prosperous sister church. 

The life of Zion church is closely associated with Saint 
Paul’s (Hametown) which came into being in 1874 and made 
overtures to Zion church to be united with it as a charge. This 
arrangement was consummated and has worked harmonious- 
ly as the Glen Rock Charge up 
to the present time. Rev. Mr. 
Koller relinquished the pastorate 
on February 7, 1877, to accept 
a call to Saint Matthew’s church 
at Hanover, Pa. 


After several months of anxie- 
ty an election for a pastor was 
held and Rev. J. B. Wolf, a 
recent graduate of Gettysburg 
Seminary, was selected by a 
practically unanimous vote of 
the members present. Thus be- 
gan a pastorate on July 20, 1877, 
which claimed the entire minis- 
terial life of Rev. Wolf and term- 
inated on account of failing 

REY. J. 46 Wor, Dio): health on January 1, 1918, a 
pastorate of 40 years, 5 months and 11 days. 





YorRK Country CONFERENCE ATI 


The original parsonage, after serving its purpose for some 
years, was sold to a private party and a new house was built on a 
lot adjoining the church for the pastor’s residence. This has 
been recently remodeled and is now a first class modern parson- 
age, built of brick, representing an actual investment of not 
less than $6000. 

About 1895 pastor Wolf’s health became very much impaired 
and a report from his physician was brought to the congregation 
by Mr. Joseph Dise that ‘‘The pastor’s sickness was due to the 
unhealthy location of the parsonage.’? This resulted in the 
erection of a fine new house, beautifully located on the side of a 
sunny hill, which later was purchased by Dr. Wolf and became 
his private residence. 

On February 19, 1905, at a congregational meeting, “Joseph 
Dise, architect, presented plans for a new church, which were 
adopted.” A building committee, consisting of 8. K. Diehl, 
Joseph Dise, Paul Beck, Wm. Foust, George W. Geiple, W. W. 
Seitz and Henry Bollinger, was appointed and authorized to pro- 
ceed with the erection of the building. The corner-stone of the 
new church was laid on July 7, 1905, and Rev. A. R. Steck, D. D., 
pastor of Union Lutheran Church, York, Pa., preached the sermon. 

The first service was held in the church on December 23, 
1905; but the dedicatory service did not occur until May 12, 
1907. Rev. A. Stewart Hartman, D. D., General Secretary of 
the Board of Home Missions, preached at the morning service and 
“conducted the financial effort.’ Rev. Dr. Steck of York, Pa., 
spoke in the afternoon and again in the evening. The pastors 
of the other churches in Glen Rock and neighboring Lutheran 
pastors closed their churches and joined in the dedicatory service. 

The architecture of the new church is Roman throughout. 
It is built of Port Deposit granite and is 126x62 feet in size. It 
consists of an auditorium, finished and furnished in a rich mahog- 
any color and seating 400 people, a Sunday School room seating 
300, which may be opened into the auditorium by folding doors, 
and a primary room for 100. It is ighted throughout with elec- 
tricity and is graced by a sweet-toned Esty Pipe Organ, costing 
over $2000. Dr. Hartman says: ‘It is one of the most beautiful, 
well-appointed and churchly houses of worship it has been our 
privilege to see.’ Exclusive of the architects’ fees, which were 
donated, much of the hauling and large donations of gratuitous 
labor, the cost of the building and furnishings was over $30,000, 
all of which was provided for on the day of dedication. This 
building was the climax of pastor Wolf’s commendable work in 
this charge; and he gives great credit to the architect, Mr. Joseph 
Dise, a member of the church, whose beautiful vision found ex- 
pression in material form in this most worshipful house of God. 

Dr. Wolf retired from the pastorate January 1, 1918, and was 
succeeded by the present pastor on June 1, 1918. A bronze 


472 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


tablet bearing the inscription: ‘‘A tribute of love to Rev. Joseph 
Bittinger Wolf, D. D., pastor of this church, July 20, 1877, to 
January 1, 1918,’ was dedicated on the 26th of June, 1921, Dr. 
Wolf himself taking part in the service and his entire family being 
present. 

On February 21, 1923, it was decided to purchase the property 
adjoining the church, a lot about 80x125 feet, containing a double 
brick house and a barn, for a consideration of $8000, the title for 
which was taken on April 2, 1923. Zion church now has an en- 
rollment of 4834 communicant members, a Sunday School enroll- 
ment of 457, a Luther League numbering 35, a Woman’s Mission- 
ary Society of 80, a Light Brigade and regular weekly classes in 
Religious Education. The last synodical report shows $6892 
passed through the treasury, of which $3396 was for benevolence. 

The pastorates were: Rev. A. Berg, August 29, 1860,—October 
1, 1863; Rev. Joseph Kaempfer, October 1, 1863—October 1, 
1867; Rev. J. C. Koller, November, 1867—February 7, 1877; 
Rev. J. B. Wolf, D. D., July 20, 1877—January 1, 1918; Rev. L. 
TeV ie Viverowltinerieg Ol Ss 





REV: HENRY ReSPANG GER: 
PASTOR OF THE GOLDSBORO-MT. Zion CHARGE 


The subject of this sketch was 
born in North Codorus town- 
ship, York County, Pa., October 
25th, 1881. 

His parents were John A. and 
Anna Spangler. They both had 
much to do in influencing his 
lite along the line on which it 
has gone. His father is a mem- 
ber of the Reformed Church in 
the United States and his mother 
belongs to the United Lutheran 
Church. He was confirmed by 
Rev. F. 8. Geesey, November 
6th, 1897, at St. Peter’s Union 
Church, which is a part of the 
Muhlenburg Charge, York Coun- 
ty Conference. The catechetical 
course, In preparation for con- 
firmation, made a profound impression. Shortly after confirma- 
tion, he was given the responsibility of teaching a S. S. class, in 
which he became intensely interested and as a consequence, de- 





YORK COUNTY CONFERENCE 473 


voted much time to Bible study and religious questions. This 
period was formative to a large extent in shaping the future 
character of his work. 

He began his public school career in the fall of the year 1887, 
and continued attending the rural schools until the year 1900. 
The York County Academy was entered in the fall of 1900, with 
the desire to take up the teaching profession at this time. After 
spending three years at the York County Academy he entered 
Gettysburg Cotlege the fall of 1908, from which he graduated in 
the spring of 1907, among the second honor students. He entered 
the Gettysburg Theological Seminary the fall of 1907. It was 
during his third year at College that he fully made up his mind 
to enter the Christian ministry. In the spring of 1910, he grad- 
uated from the Seminary, and in 1909 was licensed by the West 
Pennsylvania Synod to perform Miunisterial functions. After 
having received Licensure he supplied in various churches during 
1909 and 1910. During the Summer of 1910 he served the Mt. 
Carmel—New Baltimore Charge, until his departure for India in 
the fall of 1910. Just before leaving the homeland he was ordained 
by the West Pennsylvania Synod. 

He sailed for India on October 20th, 1910, and on reaching 
that country was immediately assigned the task of getting the 
Telugu vernacular. This was his chief task for the next two years. 
He was also assigned other lighter tasks, such as a limited amount 
of teaching in the Watt’s Memorial College, Guntur. During the 
second year of his linguistic studies he was gradually given a 
larger amount of the work that was ultimately to become his 
task. He helped in relief work in the former German Herranns- 
burg Mission, after the internment and repatriation of the mis- 
sionaries. During this first term of service he was in charge of 
the Guntur Taluk Field for the greater part of the time. He was 
also in charge of the Bapatla Field for a short time. During the 
last three months of his stay in India while serving his first term 
of service, he was teaching in the Bible Training School in Guntur. 

He left India January 8th, 1919, to take his first furlough in 
the homeland, arriving at his parents’ home March 18th, 1919 
and finding them broken-hearted because of the death of a younger 
brother, John, whose body had been laid away just five days 
before. With this there began a series of events that finally 
necessitated a severance from the work in India. During his 
furlough in the years 1919 and ’20, he was in the service -of the 
Board doing deputation work. During the interval of this fur- 
lough he was married to Miss Amy K. Swartz, of Spring Grove, 
Pa., on June 8th, 1919. 

On January 26th, 1921, they left for India again and arrived 
there on the 27th of February. The second term of service was 
a very short one lasting for about three years. 

He was compelled to abandon the work in India because o 


A7T4 History of West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the death of his only sister, Mrs. Katie Newcomer, who left her 
husband and six small children. The burden of rearing these 
children fell to a large extent upon the shoulders of his parents. 
This was too much for them and hence the return to the homeland. 
They arrived here on April 8th, 1924. During this second term 
of service in India, they served for a period of about nine months 
in South India, in the Guntur section of the Mission Field. In 
December they moved to North India to assist especially in the 
educational work of the former German Gossner Mission, and 
during this time resided in Ranchi, the Headquarters of the Mis- 
sion and now of the autonomous Lutheran Church. Rev. Mr. 
Spangler became pastor of the Goldsboro-Mt. Zion Charge on 
September 1, 1925. 


MT. ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK CoO., PA. 
(Goldsboro-Mt. Zion Charge) 


Rev. Henry R. SPANGLER, PASTOR 


The earliest recorded 
event bears the date of 
April 23, 1870. Rev. Sol- 
omon Dasher was Pastor. 
An election was held and 
the following church coun- 
cil was elected: Deacons, 
John Seitz, John Hale, John 
Zin, Levi Hartman; Elders, 
Samuel Hale, Jacob Kun- 
kel. January 1, 1872, Pas- 
tor Dasher closed his min- 
istry in the Mt. Zion 
Church. Rev. Samuel Her- 
ing began his labors Feb- 
ruary 4, 1872. During his 
ministry the church was 
rededicated. He served till 
April 26, 1874. 

March 15, 1874, at a 
congregational meeting it 
was decided to unite with 
the Rossville Charge. Sam- 
uel Hale and Elijah Hoover 
were selected as a commit- 





Mr. Zion LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
ON ts tee to confer with the Ross- 


YORK COUNTY CONFERENCE AT75 


ville Council relative thereto. Rev. J. B. Winton was pastor from 
April 5, 1874, to May 2, 1875; Rev. A. N. Warner, from August 1, 
1875, to June 23, 1878; Rev. Honeycut, from December 8, 1878, 
to March 28, 1880; Rev. Tressler, from April 25, 1880—. (The 
record does not give the time of the expiration of his pastorate). 
Rev. A. B. Erhard, became Pastor December 8, 1883. (No date 
of expiration.) Rev. Detrich, from April 3, 1887, to June 9, 1890: 
Rev. C. P. Wiles from March 28, 1896, to 1901. After Rev. 
C. P. Wiles left the field in 1901 the following pastors served in 
the Rossville Charge of which Mount Zion was a part until 1920: 
Rev. G..H. Eveler, Rev. H. T. Bowersox, D. D., and Rev. C..M. 
Coffelt. We have no record from 1901; but as this charge con- 
tinued to be a part of the Rossville Charge, it can be granted 
that the pastors of that charge served Mt. Zion. By action 
of the West Pennsylvania Synod, 1920, permission was 
given to sever relations with Rossville, when it united with the 
Zion congregation of Goldsboro to form the Goldsboro and 
Mt. Zion Charge. Rev. C. H. Shull became the first pastor 
of the Goldsboro and Mt. Zion Charge and served from Novem- 
ber 1, 1921, to July 1, 1922. Rev. C. F. Floto. began his pastor- 
ate December 1, 1922, and continued to serve until January 
31, 1925, when he assumed the pastorate of Mt. Holly Springs 
Lutheran Church. The present pastor, Rev. Henry R. Spangler, 
entered upon his duties September 1, 1925. 

At the present time this congregation has a confirmed mem- 
bership numbering 60. It maintains a flourishing Sunday School 
with an enrollment of 150 and an average attendance of about 85. 


A76 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, GOLDSBORO, PA. 
(Goldsboro-Mt. Zion Charge) 


Rev. Henry R. SPANGLER, PASTOR 


In the year 1896, Rev. 
H. H. Weber, D. D., of the 
Church Extension Board, 
in connection with Rev. C. 
W. Baker, who was then 
Secretary of the York Coun- 
ty Missionary Committee, 
visited Goldsboro and 
bought for the Church Ex- 
tension Board two lots in 
the newly laid out addition 
known as north Goldsboro. 
These lots were bought 
from Aaron Ziegler. The 
price was $150.00 On the 
26th day of September, 
1897, under the direction 
of “Revs GW: Baker 
congregation was organized 
numbering 26 members. A 
constitution was adopted 
and the following church 
officers were elected: El- 
ders, Lewis Gross and Hen- 
ry Ottermeyer; Deacons, 8. 

ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH D. Nagle and J. E. Shearer. 
GOLDSBORO, PA. Rev. J. HE” Heindelgcmine 
graduating class of Gettys- 

burg Seminary, who was then serving the newly organized Church 
at York Haven, became the first pastor of the Goldsboro congrega- 
tion. Steps were taken to build a church edifice. The under- 
taking prospered. <A frame structure churchly in appearance and 
appointments costing $3,350 was erected. The church was dedi- 
cated free of debt, March 27th, 1898. The following pastors were 
present and took part in the service: Rev. H. H. Weber, D. D., 
Rev. G. W. Enders, D. D., pastor of Christ’s Lutheran Church, 
York, Pa., Rev. P. Livingston, pastor of St. Mark’s Church, York, 
Pa., and pastor J. E. Heindel. The church was dedicated as 
Zion Lutheran Church of Goldsboro. Goldsboro and York 
Haven Churches were formed into a charge and named Goldsboro 
and York Haven Charge. The following pastors served as sup- 
plies or regular pastors from the time Rev. J. E. Heindel until 
the pastorate of Rev. C. H. Shull when Mount Zion and Zion 





YorK County CONFERENCE AT7 


were united: Rev. C. F. Crissman, Rev. J. C. McCarney, Rev. 
J. Roy Strock, D. D., Rev. J. S. Blank, Rev. William Hoffmann, 
Rev. L. G. Stauffer and Rev. R. 8. Stair. This relation continu- 
ed until 1920 when by action of the West Pennsylvania Synod the 
Goldsboro and York Haven Charge was dissolved. The Mt. Zion 
congregation was permitted to withdraw from the Rossville charge, 
and Goldsboro and Mt. Zion were formed into a new charge. Rev. 
R. 8. Stair served the charge for a short period. Rev. C. H. Shull 
followed with a pastorate of six months, Rev. C. F. Floto took 
charge December Ist, 1922, and served until January 31, 1925. 
Rev. Henry R. Spangler became pastor September 1, 1925. Zion 
congregation has a membership numbering 60. <A parsonage was 
purchased recently at a cost of $2600. 


REV eG HeHERSE EY: 
PASTOR OF THE HALLAM CHARGE 


Rev. Clarence Henry Hershey, 
present pastor of the Hallam : . 
Charge, was born near Dover, f- > 
York County, Pennsylvania, _ 
May 25, 1894. His father, Hen- 
ry E., and mother, Annie Hoff- 
man Hershey, at present reside 
in Dover, Pa. About one mile 
south of his birthplace stands 
the old Salem (Strayer’s) church 
Where on October 10, 1908, he 
was received into church mem- 
bership by Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, 
D. D., then pastor of the Dover 
Charge. 

His early life was spent on the 
farm and attending the township 
public schools. In the spring of 
1911 he entered the York County : 

Academy from which he graduated in June, 1913. In September 
of the same year he entered Gettysburg College, from which in- 
stitution he graduated in 1917 with an A. B. degree. In the fall 
of 1917 he entered the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, from 
which he was graduated in May, 1920, with the degree of B. D. 

On May 14, 1920, he was married to Miss Erma E. Kohr, 
daughter of Daniel E. and Leah Y. Kohr, of North York, Pa. 
They have one child, Eleanor Louise. 

On October 15, 1919, Mr. Hershey was licensed to preach 





478 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa., and was or- 
dained to the gospel ministry October 13, 1920, in the First Luth- 
eran Church, Chambersburg, Pa. On June 1, 1920, he became 
pastor of the Lehmaster Lutheran Charge, Franklin County, Pa., 
which he served for two and a half years. On January 1, 1923, 
he became pastor of the Hallam Charge, York County, Pa. 


CANADOCHLY LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK CoO., PA. 
(Hallam Charge) 


Rev. C. H. HersHury, Pastor 





CANADOCHLY LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


The Hallam Charge, formerly known as the Kreutz Creek 
Charge, consists of the St. James’ congregation, Hallam, and 
Canadochly, located three and a half miles south of Hallam in 
Lower Windsor Township on the improved road leading from East 
Prospect to York, Pa. 

The beginning of religious work by people of Lutheran per- 
suasion in the community in which the Canadochly Lutheran 
Church is located can be traced back to the year 1733, when John 
Casper Stoever crossed the territory now included in York County, 
holding religious services and baptizing and also laying plans for 
the organization of Christ Church, York, in connection with 
which the work at Canadochly and in the Kreutz Creek Val- 
ley was for many years carried. on. Although no definite 
record of the earliest activities seems to exist, there is in the pos- 
session of the congregation a record book containing the names 
and lengths of their periods of service of the pastors who labored 
from 1733 on down. 

From 1733 to 1744 the names of pastors associated with the 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 479 


history of the work here are as follows: John Casper Stoever, 
David Candler, Henry Melchoir Muhlenburg, J. F. Handschuh 
and Peter Brunholtz. From 1744 to 1765 the following York 
pastors ministered also at Canadochly: John Helfrich Schaum, 
George Ludwig Hocbheimer, John George Bager, Lucas Raus and 
Nicholas Hornell. 

From early days this was a union church, Lutherans and 
Reformed worshipping together. It was during the time when 
Nicholas Hornell was preaching to the Lutherans at Canadochly, 
in the year 1768, that the first church, a log building, was erected. 
Logs and stone were brought from the nearby woods and pews 
were made by some of the people. A wood-worker carved a 
pulpit out of the trunk of a large tree and placed it over a winding 
stair. Over the pulpit there was a sounding board. ‘The floor 
consisted merely of earth. The church was finished in 1764 and 
dedicated in June of that year. Rev. Hornell represented the 
Lutherans and Rev. Jacob Lischey, the Reformed at this service. 
This building stood for thirty-six years. The site of this building 
is today marked by a little mound in the old graveyard east of 
the church. 

On June thirtieth, 1765, Rev. Nicholas Hornell preached his 
farewell sermon and retired from the ministry. In 1767 Rev. 
John George Bager became pastor at York and also at Canadoch- 
ly, where he had before preached, though perhaps not as pastor. 
He served until 1769. In April, 1770, Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz 
became pastor and remained until 1789. The next pastor was 
Jacob Goering, a native of Chanceford township. He died in 
1807. 

The second church, a brick structure, was completed in 1801. 
The building committee consisted of Michael Kauffelt and An- 
thony Keller, Lutherans, and Conrad Leber and Jacob Dritt, 
Reformed. Matthew Becker was elected treasurer. 

In 1809, Rev. John G. Schmucker came to York and also 
assumed charge at Canadochly. In 1813, he gave up part of 
his charge which consisted of six churches. Canadochly was then 
in the charge of Rev. Jacob Herbst who later became regular 
pastor. In 1814 Rev. Charles Morris became pastor and served 
until 1818, when because of enfeebled health he resigned and be- 
came proprietor of the Morris Drug Company, at York. Rev. 
Jacob Herbst, previously mentioned, then became regular pastor 
and served one year until 1819. In 1819 Rev. John G. Kraber 
became pastor at Canadochly, remaining until 1833. 

An old record states that on December 20, 1825, the heirs of 
William Penn granted to the congregations worshipping at Cana- 
dochly a tract of land of about 20 acres, the same tract as was 
originally surveyed in 1752, for the use of the congregations of 
this church. The congregations obtained a charter in 1838 when 
Joseph Ritner was governor of Pennsylvania. 


480 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rey. Jonathan Oswald became pastor in 18385, and with him 
came the gradual introduction of English in connection with the 
German. He preached his farewell sermon to this congregation 
JunerZ0RLS 75: 

In 1840 the Sunday School connected with the union church 
was organized in a school house about three-fourths of a mile 
west of the church. Henry Slaymaker was the first superinten- 
dent. In 1857 it was removed to the church. John Hellerman 
then became superintendent. 

The third and present church building, constructed of brick, 
was erected in 1867. P. W. Keller was the contractor. It is a 
two-story building having been remodeled during the pastorate of 
Rey. J. D. Krout. It has a fine auditorium and a Sunday School 
room. Electric lights were installed throughout the building 
early in 1924. Standing as it does at a point from which both 
sides of the Susquehanna may be viewed, it serves as a landmark 
in the community. The congregation has also in its possession 
a farm of approximately 20 acres occupied by the sexton. In 
1907 the Lutheran congregation purchased the part of the prop- 
erty owned by the Reformed who built a new church building 
about one-eighth of a mile west of the original church. 

After Rev. Oswald, in the long line of pastors, came Rev. 
L. K. Secrist who served until 1889. Rev. Hermon F. Kroh 
served from 1889 to 1891. From 1892 to 1897, Rev. Reuben 8. 
Stair was pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. E. E. Hoshour, 
who remained until 1900. Rev. D. B. Lau became pastor De- 
cember 1, 1900, and remained for three years and nine months. 
Rev. J. H. Mever took charge in November, 1904, and served one 
and a half years. Rev. Joseph D. Krout took charge October 1, 
1906, and continued for three years. He was followed April 1, 
1910, by Rev. A. B. Miller, who left April 29, 1912.. Rev.-D. 38. 
Martin came June 4, 1912, and left November 7, 1917.. Rev..C. 
F. Floto began work January 15, 1918, and left December 1, 1922. 
Rev. C. H. Hershey, the present pastor, began his work January 
iby Me Pasy. 

The Rev. E. C. Ruby, pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 
North York, and also Treasurer of the West Pennsylvania Synod 
of the Lutheran Church, is a son of this congregation. 

The confirmed membership of the congregation at present 
is 120. The church council consists of the following officers: Elders, 
George Poff, Sr., Benjamin Kauffman; Deacons, George Cooper, 
Elmer Keller, Harry Keller and Ephraim Dietz; Trustees, David 
Dellinger, Harrison Fauth and H. A. Ruby. The Superintendent 
of the Sunday School, with an enrollment of 121, is Harry Boll. 
Luther Ruby is president ef the Luther League with an enroll- 
ment of 25. 


YorRK CouNntTY CONFERENCE 481 


ST. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH, HALLAM, PA. 
(Hallam Charge) 


Rev. ©. H. Hersuny, Pastor 





ST. JAMES LUTHERAN CHURCH, HALLAM, Pa. 


The history of the Lutheran church in the Kreutz Creek 
Valley, although veiled under some uncertainty, can be dated 
back to 1746, when application was made to the heirs of William 
Penn for a tract of land situated in Hellam Township, then Lan- 
caster County, Pennsylvania, for church purposes. In that year 
also a permit was issued by the proprietary of Pennsylvania au- 
thorizing Martin Shultz, Jacob Weltzhoffer, Henry Smith and 
George Amend to have fifty acres surveyed for said purposes. 
For this land they were to pay 15 pounds 10 shillings. The 
permit is signed by George Thomas and by William Parson, 
Surveyor General. The purchase was made and a deed secured. 
At various times, portions of this land have been sold, leaving at 
present in the church tract about 10 acres. Though land was 
secured, the church was not organized until the year 1763 under 
the pastoral direction of Rev. Lucas Raus. At this time George 
Amend and Mathias Demuth were elected deacons. Prior to this 
time, however, different Lutheran ministers ministered to Lutheran 
settlers in the vicinity, namely, Revs. Candler, Muhlenberg, 
Handschuh and probably others. 


It is not possible to obtain a continuous list of pastors from 
the beginning to the present time but a partial list is here named. 
Prior to 1777, Revs. Raus, Hornell and Bager. In 1777 Nicholas 
Kurtz became pastor. In 1786, Jacob Goering took charge. In 
1809, J. G. Schmucker; 1815, C. A. Morris; 1817, George Kraber; 
followed by Dr. J. Oswald, date not known. Then came George 
P. Weaver. After his resignation, Rev. A. W. Lilly supplied the 


482 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


congregation until May 19, 1872, when Rev. L. K. Secrist became 
pastor. Rev. Hermon IF. Kroh came in 1889 and ended his 
labors in 1891. } 

The first church building stood in the southwest corner of 
the old graveyard, built of logs, about 1745, having slab seats 
and no stone. The original worshippers came to the house of 
God armed against the Indians. 

The second church, built of stone, in 1797, stood on nearly 
the same spot as the present building, which was erected in 1860. 
This is a brick building, used for many years by the Lutherans 
and Reformed jointly but now in the hands of the Presbyterians. 

During the pastorate of Rev. R. S. Stair, at a congregational 
meeting held at the parsonage in March, 1894, it was decided 
to erect a house of worship in Hallam, and the following were 
named as a committee to have matters in charge. Chairman, 
Rev. R. 8S. Stair, Secretary, L. R. Crumling, and Treasurer, John 
W. Gable. Additional members of the committee were Henry 8. 
Fries, Frank E. Lehman, Phillip C. Metzel, George E. Loucks, 
Winfield 8. Hauser and John Druck. At a meeting of the build- 
ing committee held March 12, 1894, a plan for a building sub- 
mitted by J. A. Dempwolf of York, was selected and building 
operations began at once, resulting in a beautiful church building 
located on Main street in the boro of Hallam, ‘arranged according 
to Lutheran custom with an auditorium seating about three hun- 
dred people and a primary Sunday School room attached. It is 
equipped with electric ights and a hot air heating plant. Sunday 
September 23, 1894, the building was dedicated, the dedicatory 
sermon having been preached by Dr. J. W. Richard, of the Get- 
tysburg Seminary. Dr. G. W. Enders, Sr., Rev. Peter Livingston 
and Dr. A. G. Fastnacht of York, together with pastor Stair, 
also took part in the service. The dedication was followed with 
a week of services in which different pastors from York partici- 
pated. The congregation from then on has been known as St. 
James’ Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hallam, Pa. 

Following pastor Stair, who resigned in 1897, came Rev. E. 
EK. Hoshour, who served until 1900. Rev. D. B. Lau came De- 
cember 1, 1900, and remained three years and nine months, Rev. 
J. H. Meyer took charge in November, 1904, and served one and 
a half years. Rev. J. D. Krout came October 1, 1906, and con- 
tinued for three years. Rev. A. B. Miller came April 1, 1910, 
and left April 29, 1912. Rev. D. S. Martin came June 4, 1912, 
and left November 7, 1917. Rev. C. F. Floto began work January 
15, 1918, and left December 1, 1922. Rev. C. H. Hershey, the 
present pastor, assumed pastoral charge January 1, 1923. 

In addition to the church building, the congregation num- 
bering 145 confirmed members owns also a parsonage having all 
modern conveniences and a sexton’s house with modern equip- 
ment. The church council at present consists of the following 


YorK CouNtTY CONFERENCE A483 


officers: Elders, John Grosh, Ambrose Kauffman; Deacons, G. W. 
Strickler, Paul Hamm, D. M. Gilbert and C. E. Young; Trustees, 
William Wolf and P. A. Gross. 


The Superintendent of the Sunday School, having an enroll- 
ment of 165, is Aquilla Fauth. The President of the Women’s 
Missionary Society, having 23 members, is Mrs. A. F. Gable. 
The President of the Ladies’ Aid Society, with 30 members is 
Miss Emma Hiestand. The President of the Luther League, 
with 48 members, is Paul Hamm. Miss Cora Reider is 
Superintendent of the Junior Luther League, with 28 members. 





REV Eee ELE EPA 
PASTOR OF THE JEFFERSON CHARGE 


W. H. Ehrhart was born Oc- 
Tower Oael oO lainey orks owne 
ship, York Co., Pa. His parents’ 
names were William and Eliza 
(Stump) Ehrhart. 

He was reared on the farm and 
attended public school and a 
normal school at York, the York 
County Academy and Miuillers- 
ville State Normal. Taught pub- 
lic school for six years and then 
prepared for College at the York 
County Academy. Entered Get- 
tysburg College in 1889 and 
eraduated in Spring of 18938 in 
the Classical Course. In the Fall 
of 1893 he entered the Theologic- 
al Seminary at Gettysburg and 
eraduated in 1896. He received 
his A. M. degree from Gettysburg College in the spring of the 
same year. 

He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at its 
meeting in Zion’s Lutheran Church, York, Pa., in 1895, and or- 
dained by the same Synod the following year in St. James’ Luth- 
eran Church, Gettysburg, Pa. 


His first charge was that of Silver Run, Md., which he began 
to serve soon after his graduation from the Seminary in the spring 
of 1896, remaining until 1903, when he accepted a call to the 
Jefferson Charge of the West Pennsylvania Synod where he is 
still serving. 





484. History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


BETHLEHEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK CoO., PA. 
(Jefferson Charge) 


Rev. W. H. Exnruart, Pastor 


An old deed informs us 
that Philip Stiltz, often 
called Steltz, sold to the Sub- 
scribers of the Church 
named Bethlehem on the 
14th day of February, 1795, 
two acres of land located 
in Baltimore Co., Md., on 
the Mason and Dixon line 
close to the point where 
Shrewsbury and Codorus 
Townships join. For these 
two acres the subscribers 
were to pay five shillings 
Sterling Money. The tract 
itself was known as Stiltz’s 
Deer Park. 

On June 30, 1803, the 
Penns issued a Patent Deed 
to John Ruhland and Daniel 
Peterman, representatives 
of the church organization, 
for two acres and 120 
perches, adjoining the land 
bought from Philip Stiltz 
on the Pennsylvania side 

BETHLEHEM LUTHERAN CHURCH of Mason and Dixon line. 

YORK COMEPA: But prior to these two 

grants of land, in February, 

1794, Christopher Ring, Philip Stiltz, Christopher Ziegler, Jacob 

Barg, Andrew Kay, George Ruhl, John Sour, Wiliam Rogers, 

Philip Stiltz, Jr., Henry Henig and Peter Henig signed an article 

of agreement for the founding of a Union Congregation where the 

doctrines of the Lutheran and German Refermed Churches should 
be preached and taught. 

About 1801 a church building was erected on the tract of 
land purchased from Philip Steltz within a few feet of the boundary 
line in the State of Maryland. 

In 1862 a brick church was erected on land purchased from 
John Fisher in Codorus Township, about one hundred yards north 
of the site of the first church. 


The church was served as near as we know by the following 





YorRK CouNnTY CONFERENCE AS5 


ministers: Revs. Sieger, Reineck, Andrew Berg, William H. Ket- 
terman to 1903 and William H. Ehrhart from 1903 to the present 
time. 

The church was incorporated December 5, 1863. 





JACOBS. “SLONH | CHURGHMYORK: CO. PAs 
(Jefferson Charge) 


Rev. W. H. Enrynart, Pastor 





ST JACOB oho) STONE a CHURCH aa) ORK COs, PAz 


According to an old deed, Jacob’s Union Church is built on 
land granted by the State during Governorship of Thomas Mc- 
Kean. ‘This is the way the deed reads: ‘Know ye, that in con- 
sideration of the sum of Thirty-one Dollars and three cents lawful 
money now paid by George Werner, Andrew Miller, Francis 
Bachman, and Jacob Ruhlman, Elders of the Presbyterian and 
Lutheran Congregations of the County of York,—into the Re- 
ceiver General’s Office of this Commonwealth, there is granted, by 
the said Commonwealth unto the said George Werner, Andrew 


AS6 History oF West PENNSYLVAINA SYNOD 


Miller, Francis Bachman and Jacob Ruhlman in trust for the use 
herein after mentioned—a certain tract of land called Teachers’ 
Resort—situated in Codorus Township, York Co.,—containing 
Forty-five Acres.” The granting of this land took place in the 
year 1767. 


The first church was dedicated on the 4th of July, 1761. The 
organization of a church was at least five years earlier in 1756. 
The Record shows baptisms from this early period on up to the 
present. It is supposed the services were held in a school house 
until the dedication of the first church in 1761. The first building 
was a log building and was soon found to be too small owing to 
rapid increase in membership. In the year 1789 the log church 
was torn down and replaced by a stone structure of larger di- 
mensions, from which also it received its name, Stone Church. 


In 1855, it again became necessary on account of the rapid 
growth in membership and the increased demand for better fa- 
cilities, to take the last named structure down and build one of 
larger dimensions. Steps were promptly taken and the Stone 
Church was replaced by a brick building. The Corner Stone was 
laid in the Spring of the above named date, Rev. Peter Scheurer 
being Pastor. 


The above named structure was seriously damaged by lght- 
ning and fast becoming dangerous. A meeting was called and on 
the advice of J. A. Dempwolf, architect of York, Pa, it was unan- 
imously decided to build. The vete was taken at a second meet- 
ing. 

May 27, 1889. Steps were immediately taken to rebuild, a 
building committee was appointed, the Lutheran members being 
Michael Saubel and J. A. Klinefelter, and the work was pushed 
with all possible speed. The corner stone of the new edifice was 
laid on August 4, 1889, the late Rev. J. C. Koller, D. D., assisting 
the Pastor, Rev. W. H. Ketterman. The new building is a modest, 
vet substantial and commodious structure built of brick and 
Hummelstown brown stone of modern Gothic style and archi- 
tecture costing about $18,000 and could not be replaced for three 
times that amount. The church has a seating capacity of one 
thousand. The church was remodeled and rededicated May 16, 
1920. The West Pennsylvania Synod convened here October 12, 
1897, Rev. W.8. Freas, D. D., preaching the opening sermon. 

The following are some of the ministers who served the con- 
eregation: Rev. Frederick V. Melsbeimer, 1790 to 1814; John F. 
Melsheimer, 1814 to 1826; Jacob Kempfer, Johnathan Ruthrauff, 
1829 to 18387; Jacob Albert, 1837 to 1848; Peter Scheurer, 1848 to 
1872; W. H. Ketterman, 1872 to 1903; and W. H. Ehrhart, 1903 
to the present time. 


The charge is known for its long pastorates, the last three 
totaling exactly 75 years. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 487 


TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, JEFFERSON, PA. 
(Jefferson Charge) 


Rev. W. H. Exsruart, PAsTor 


Rey. Emmanuel Keller 
preached the first sermon 
within the village of Jeffer- 
son on December 26, 1825. 
Not long afterward a Luth- 
eran Congregation, Was or- 
ganized. For about five 
years the services were held 
in the school house. In 
1830 a church was built 
which received the name of 
Emmanuel’s Union Church 
in which the Lutherans and 
Reformed worshiped. The 
church had a gallery on 
three sides and the dimen- 
sions were 40 by 50 feet. 
This building was used un- 
til 1883 when the two de- 
nominations built separate 
churches. The Lutherans 
DU Gemeltinigy. = Church, a 
brick building near the 
square. The Lutherans 
have been worshipping in 
this church up to the pres- 
ent time. 

The following were some TrINity LUTHERAN CHURCH 

of the ministers who served JEFFERSON, Pa. 
Emmanuel’s Union Church: 
Rey. Emmanuel Keller and Rev. Deininger. Trinity was served 
by Rev. Peter Scheurer to 1872, Rev. William H. Ketterman from 
1872 to 1903, and W. H. Ehrhart from 1903 to the present time. 
The church has a membership of 200. 





A488 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ZION GU THE RANSOH URCH SY ORKECOSME AS 
(Jefferson Charge) 


Rev. W. H. ExRHART, PASTOR 


ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH 
YORK GOn ts 








On April 24, 1859, a Sun- 
day School was organized 
in an old log school house. 
This stood on ground that 
is now used for burial pur- 
poses. The organization 
was effected two years be- 
fore the building of the 
little church on the site of 
the present church building. 

The planting of a Sunday 
School in this community 
took the form of a mission- 
ary enterprise. For, two 
years later, in the fall of 
1861, the Lutherans and 
Reformed jointly erected a 
church building not large, 
but spacious enough for the 
needs of the time. The 
Church was named Zion’s 
Lutheran and Reformed 
and each had about fifteen 
members to begin with. 
The congregation increased 
in membership very rapid- 
lv and as the church soon 
overcrowded, it was decided 
to build a new and larger 
church. This was done in 
1882 and was built on the 


same site on which the first church stood. This gave them a more 
commodious building and the church prospered and grew to a 
membership of over 200. She has at the present time two of her 
sons In the ministry, Rev. Paul Glatfelter and Rev. Harry D. 
Newcomer. There is a flourishing Sunday Schoo! and a very 
promising Women’s Missionary Society. 

The church had only three ministers in the 63 years of her 
existence: Rev. Peter Scheurer from 1861 to 1872; Rev. William 
H. Ketterman from 1872 to 1908; and Rev. William H. Ehrhart 


from 1903 to the present. 


The church was incorporated in November 8, 1870. 


YorkK County CONFERENCE AS9 
REV. WILLIS R. BRENNEMAN 
PAasTOR OF THE LEBANON CHARGE 


Willis R. Brenneman, son of 
Abner and Elsie Brenneman, was 
born at Seven Valleys, Pa., July 
31st, 1897. He attended Zieg- 
ler’s Lutheran Church, where he’ 
was confirmed in 1912 by Rev. 
A. J. Grossman. After attend- 
ing the public schools he pre- 
pared for College at the York 
County Academy. He entered 
Gettysburg College in 19138, grad- 
uating in 1917. Upon gradua- 
tion from Gettysburg Seminary 
in 1920 he became pastor of 
Grace Lutheran Church of Clar- 
ion, Pa. He was compelled to 
resign on account of ill health at 
the end of nine months. After 
the lapse of a year he accepted 
the call of the Lebanon Charge, which became effective in May, 
1922. He married Miss Lela Gladfelter, member of St. Mat- 
thew’s Lutheran Church of York, Pa. 

He was ordained at the convention of the Pittsburgh Synod 
at Greenville, June 13th, 1920. 








LEBANON LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK CoO., PA. 
(Lebanon Charge) 


Rev. Wituis R. BRENNEMAN, PASTOR 


Lebanon, at first called Flinchbach’s, and sometimes known 
as Stabley’s was organized in 1812, as a union church. The con- 
eregations of Stahley’s, Blymire’s, Frey’s, and Flinchbach’s called 
John Herbst, Jr., to become their pastor. The original tract of 
land, at first consisting of little more than an acre, was deeded by 
Frederic Flinchbach and John Stebler for the sum of $30. The 
first church erected upon this ground was a frame structure. Its 
architecture was typical of the times, with a gallery on three sides 
and the elevated pulpit on the fourth. Rev. Herbst resigned in 
1819. 

The second pastor was Rev. Henry G. Stecker. Ata meeting 
of the Synod in Baltimore in 1819 Mr. Stecker was given permission 


490 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


to preach to the York County congregations. He accordingly 
entered the work and in 1821 was ordained. During the greater 
part of his ministry he lived at Martinsburg (Loganville), from 








CHURCHES OF HHE LEBANON CHARGE, YORK (GO; 


St: PAur’s, Mt." PLEASANT SD. (PAUL S; PELTON 
ST. JOHN’S, “SADLER’S’” CHURCH LEBANON CHURCH 


YorRK County CONFERENCE AQ] 


which point he served eight congregations. Rev. Stecker re- 
mained pastor until 1830, when he moved to Hummelstown, Pa. 

During the next three years, neighboring and visiting pastors 
supplied. It was the period of readjustment among the congre- 
gations of York County. Among those who served or supplied 
during this period was Henry Ginal, whose name appears on an 
old baptismal certificate. 

In 1833 Rev. John Kaempfer, a native of North Carolina, 
and the first student at the Gettysburg Seminary, came to Shrews- 
bury and organized that Charge, consisting of Fissel’s, Steltze’s, 
Sadler’s, Shrewsbury, Shuster’s and Stabley’s. The pastor lived 
at Shrewsbury, where a parsonage was procured for him at a cost 
of $1200. Rev. Kaempfer resigned in 1848. 

While a few congregations experienced difficulty in finding 
pastors, Lebanon had the good fortune of being a part of the 
Shrewsbury Charge where few pastoral changes occurred. The 
longest and perhaps the most fruitful ministry must be credited 
to Rev. Andrew Berg, who stands out as a strong figure in the 
life of Lebanon. During his ministry of 28 years two dates are 
significant. The first of these is 1847 when a School was organized. 
The second date is 1859 when a new church was built by the two 
congregations. Rev. Berg’s ministry dates from 1848 to 1871. 

In 1871 Lebanon severed relations with the Shrewsbury 
Charge and united with several of the old Windsor Charge con- 
eregations to form the Dallastown Charge. Of this field Rev. 
Peter Warner was the first pastor, accepting March 19, 1871. 
He labored faithfully among the six congregations until his death, 
April 17, 1882. 

Rev. Warner was succeeded by Rev. E. Lenhart, who served 
from November 14, 1882, until 1885, when the Charge was di- 
vided. The new Charge consisting of Lebanon, St. James’, and 
St. Luke’s, was formed, called the Lebanon Charge. 

Rev. Peter Livingston became the first pastor of this Charge, 
March 1, 1886. During his ministry the St. Paul’s congregation 
was organized at Felton and added to the Charge. Rev. Living- 
ston served until June 30, 1890. 

During the ministry of Rev. D. 8. Kurtz, who accepted 
“December 1, 1890, the church building underwent considerable 
repairing. The interests of the Reformed congregation in the 
building were purchased for the sum of $2500. The date 1892 is 
significant because at that time Lebanon ceased to be a Union 
church. Rev. Kurtz resigned December 24, 1893. 

Rev. E. Manges served from February 1, 1894, to November 
1, 1899. During his ministry the Charge was divided, Stahley’s 
and St. James’ forming the new Chanceford Charge. Rev. Man- 
ges continued to serve Lebanon and Felton as the Lebanon Charge. 

Following Rev. Manges, Rev. 8S. J. Ulrich served the two 
congregations for a period of nine months. 


492 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


After Sadler’s and Mt. Pleasant were added to the Charge 
the first pastor to serve was Rev. G. A. Livingston, whose minis- 
try dates from October 15, 1901, to September 1, 1904. 

The dates for the succeeding pastors are as follows: Rey. 
Luther E. Henry, April 1, 1905, to June 15, 1914; Rev. H. C. 
Aroh, October 1, 1914, to July 1, 1917; Rev. D. 8S. Weimer, No- 
vember 1, 1917, to April 1, 1919; Rev) C2 Shull Phebe 
August 1, 1919, to November 1, 1921; Rev. Willis R. Brenneman, 
May 15, 1922. 

Improvements and repairs recently were made at a cost 
approximating $2500. The church was papered and painted, a 
new roof was put on, and new pews installed. . 

The present membership of the congregation is 88. The 
members of the Church Council are Henry Flinchbaugh, Calvin 
Shenberger, Allen Grove and Danie! Tyson. 





SL. JOHN'S: -SADLERS% CHURCH, YORK {COM sia 
(Lebanon Charge) 


Rev. Wituis R. BRENNEMAN, PASTOR 

The Church was given the name ‘‘Sadler’s’ in honor of the 
donor of the ground. No records are available to indicate the 
date of organization. However, in an old German Record Book 
baptisms are mentioned as early as 1792. In all probability the 
Church was established between 1780 and 1790, or even earlier, 
during the period when a number of the old York County congre- 
gations were organized. Frey’s established in 1771, and Stahley’s 
in 1772 are two congregations with which Sadler’s for a long time 
was associated. The fact that these two congregations were or- 
ganized by the same man gives some weight to the opinion that 
Lucas Rauss also organized Sadler’s. It is not only possible, but 
very probable that while he served the neighboring congregation 
of Schuster’s from 1770 to 1787 he encouraged the organization of 
this congregation. 

The first date in the Minutes of the ‘“Ministertum”’ referring 
to Sadler’s, is 1792, when Mr. August Ritz was appointed ‘‘cat- 
echist’’? of Schuster’s, Blymire’s, Frey’s, and Sadler’s under the 
supervision of the minister at Hanover. The following year he 
was succeeded by Mr. George Graber, who did not stay any later 
than 1796. 

The next few years are rather obscure. However, in 1803 
Rey. John Herbst, Sr., accepted the call to ‘‘Fissel’s and the con- 
gregations associated with it.”’ In 1805 he reports as ‘‘candidate”’ 
from Zion, Fissel’s, Schuster’s, and Sadler’s. On June 12th of that 
year he was ordained. In all probability he was the first regularly 


YoRK CouNnTY CONFERENCE 493 


ordained minister to serve the congregation. After 1810 we find 
no further record of his work at Sadler’s. 

In 1813 John Herbst, Jr., reported to Synod as ‘‘candidate”’ 
from York County. Mr. Herbst soon was advanced to the 
standing of ‘‘deacon” and in 1816 was ordained. In 1813 By- 
Laws were drawn up by the two congregations, written and signed 
in German by the two pastors and church councils. These By- 
Laws later were incorporated in the Charter, which was granted 
by the Court in 1872. The communion records of Rev. Herbst 
appear as late as 1819. 

The next pastor was Rev. Henry G. Stecker, who at a meeting 
of the Synod in Baltimore was given permission to preach to the 
York County congregations. Rev. Stecker accepted. During his 
ministry. he lived at Martinsburg (Loganville). He resigned 
about 1830. ' 

During the next nine years no regular pastor served. It is 
likely: that Rev. Kaempfer of Shrewsbury rendered ministerial 
service. In 1839 Rev. Peter Herman became pastor, reporting 
to Synod for three congregations. The following year the Wind- 
sor Charge was formed, of which Sadler’s became a member. 
This Charge Rev. Herman served until his death in 1852. 

Rev. C. J. Deininger followed Rev. Herman, but he did not 
remain more than a year. 

Rev. Andrew Berg, who for 30 years was pastor of the Shrews- 
bury Charge, preached at Sadler’s from 1855 to 1858. It is very 
probable that during his long ministry he served Sadler’s when- 
ever they were without a regular pastor. 

Rey. J. Kaempfer is another name associated with Sadler’s. 
Just when he preached at Sadler’s is not certain. It is known that 
some one preached after Berg. Who could it have been but this 
Kaempfer, who just about this time was serving the Windsor 
Charge? 

In 1862 Rev. John Conoway became pastor, serving Sadler’s 
as a part of the Windsor Charge. In 1871 when the Dallastown 
Charge was formed, Rev. Conoway served what became known for 
a number of years as the ““Conoway Charge,” consisting of Zieg- 
ler’s, Neffstown (York New Salem), and Sadler’s. This Charge 
remained intact as late as 1887. Following the retirement of Rev. 
Conoway, Rev. C. W. Baker of Dallastown supplied the congre- 
gation every four weeks. 

Sometime during 1888, or perhaps during the previous year, 
Sadler’s was added to the Dallastown Charge. Rev. M. V. Shatto 
became pastor of this Charge January 1, 1889, and remained until 
January 1, 1892. 

On March 1, 1892, Rev. A. M. Heilman, graduating from the 
Gettysburg Seminary, accepted the call and served until De- 
cember 1, 1894. 

In December, 1894, the Dallastown Charge was divided, 


494 History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Sadler’s, Mt. Pleasant, Frey’s, and Red Lion forming the new 
Red Lion Charge. The first pastor to serve this Charge was 
Rev. H. E, Berkey whose ministry dates from June 1, 1895, to 
January 1, 1901. 

Rev. Berkey was followed by Rev. U. E. Apple April 1, 1901, 
who served the congregation until October 15, 1901, when Sadler’s 
and Mt. Pleasant withdrew from the Red Lion Charge to unite 
with the Lebanon Charge. The first pastor of Sadler’s as 
a member of the Lebanon Charge was Rev. G. A. Livingston, 
whose ministry dates from November 15, 1901, to September 1, 
1904. 

The dates for the succeeding pastors are as follows: Rev. 
Luther E. Henry, April 1, 1905, to June 15, 1914; Rev. H. C. 
Aroh, October 1, 1914, to July 1, 1917; Rev. D. S. Weimer, No- 
vember 1, 1917, to April 1, 1919; Rev. C. H. Shull, Ph. D., August 
1, 1919, to November 1, 1921; Rev. Willis R. Brenneman, May 
15, 1922—. 


Rev. Louis H. Rehmeyer is a son of this congregation. He 
was born of Lewis C. and Amelia Matilda Rehmeyer, October 
20th, 1891, in Baltimore, Md. 
In 1894 his parents moved upon 
a farm located in North Hope- 
well Township, York County. 
Here they became faithful mem- 
bers of Sadler’s Congregation, 
where their son later was con- 
firmed. . 

After attending the public 
schools he entered Gettysburg 
Academy in the fall of 1910. In 
1916 he graduated from Gettys- 
burg College, and three years 
later, in 1919, from Gettysburg 
Seminary. So far as is known, 
Rev. Rehmeyer is the first young 
man going forth from the con- 

Rey. Louis H. REHMEYER eregation to receive a college 

education. 

After graduating from Seminary he became pastor of the 
Shippenville Lutheran Charge, May 23rd, 1919, which field he 
served most acceptably. On November 18th, 1923, he resigned 
to accept a call from Immanuel Lutheran Church of Manchester, 
Md. 

The first church building was constructed of logs and stood 
at the north corner of the old cemetery. 

In 1811 this log church gave way to a splendid brick edifice 
of the typical style of the times—a nearly square building with 





YorK County CONFERENCE 495 


a gallery on three sides, and on the fourth side a “‘swallow’s-nest”’ 
pulpit, approached by a stairway. This church was erected upon 
the same site which the present building occupies. 

In 1896 during the pastorates of Rev. H. E. Berkey and 
Rey. H. J. Hillegas (Reformed), the church was torn down and 
the present structure erected. On November 1 of the same year 
the church was dedicated free of debt, the cost approximating 
$3000. 


The congregation has a membership at present of 155. The 
members of the. Council are Robert Brillhart, Harvey Eppley, 
Cleveland Orwig and James Diehl. 





ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, FELTON, PA. 
(Lebanon Charge) 


Rev. Wituis R. BRENNEMAN, PASTOR 


St. Paul’s Congregation of Felton was organized in 1888 by 
Rev. Peter Livingston, who was then serving the Lebanon Charge, 
consisting of Lebanon, St. James’, and Stahley’s (St. Lukes). 
The pastor lived at Felton, where no church had yet been es- 
tablished. Convinced that the Lutheran Church should embrace 
the epportunity of establishing a church in the town, Rev. Liv- 
ingston agitated the question, and on the 3rd of April, 1888, 
eround was broken. A building 32 by 36 was erected and dedi- 
cated, September 30th, 1888, Rev. G. W. Enders, D. D., preaching 
the dedicatory sermon. Upon the same day the Sunday School 
was organized. ‘The Constitution for the Church was signed by 
18 members. The Congregation was added to the Lebanon 
Charge, which Rev. Livingston served until June 22, 1890. 


Rev. D. 8. Kurtz was the second pastor to serve the Con- 
eregation, having assumed charge, December 4th, 1890, and 
resigning, December 31st, 1893. 


During the pastorate of Rev. Edmund Manges a debt of 
$630 was liquidated. On April Ist, 1899, the Charge was divided, 
St. James’ and Stahley’s forming the Chanceford Charge, while 
the Lebanon Charge now comprised Lebanon and St. Paul’s 
congregations. After the division, Rev. Manges served the Leb- 
anon Charge until November Ist, 1899. From June Ist to No- 
vember Ist, he also supplied Christ Church, at Loganville. 

Succeeding Rev. Manges, Rey. 8. J. Ulrich served the Charge 
for 9 months. 

When Rev. G. A. Livingston became pastor, Sadler’s and Mt. 
Pleasant congregations had been added to the Charge. He was 
the first pastor to serve the Lebanon Charge under this 


496 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


arrangement. Rev. Livingston served from October 15th, 1901, 
to September Ist, 1904. 

The ministry of Rev. L. E. Henry, covering a period of more 
than 9 years, is marked with faithfulness and steady growth. 

During the pastorate of Rev. H. C. Aroh, the present parson- 
age was built by the Charge. 

Rev. D. 8S. Weimer, assumed charge, November Ist, 1917, 
and resigned, April Ist, 1919. 

Rev. C. H. Shull, Ph. D., followed, serving from August Ist, 
1919, until November Ist, 1921. 

The present pastor assumed charge, May 15th, 1922. The 
membership of the Congregation is 63, 27 having been received 
during the present pastorate. The installation of a pipeless 
furnace, the wiring of the church, the laying of a new carpet, and 
the painting of the exterior of the church, are the improve- 
ments that have recently been made, at a cost of $810. 

The members of the first Council were: Elders, Henry Seitz, 
Jacob Diehl; Deacons, John Runkle, Conrad Hake. 

The first Baptism recorded is that of Mary Leah Livingston, 
daughter of Rev. Peter and Sadie Livingston, September 30th, 
1888. : 

The first to be received by Confirmation were Catharine 
Miller and Ida Briggs,.April 14th, 1889. 

The first Holy Communion service was held April 14th, 1889. 
At this service 19 members communed. Members of the present 
council are C. C. Seitz, H. G. Seitz, William Hannigan and L. E. 
Sentz. 





ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH OF MT. PLEASANT 
(Lebanon Charge) 


Rev. Witiis R. BRENNEMAN, PASTOR 


St. Paul’s Congregation of Mt. Pleasant was probably organiz- 
ed by Rev. Andrew Berg, pastor of the Shrewsbury Charge. ASchool 
for some years conducted in Miller’s Stone School House attracted 
the attention of Rev. Berg, and possibly other neighboring min- 
isters, Who encouraged the organization of a congregation and the 
building of a new church. Accordingly in the year 1857, upon 
eround deeded by Abraham Miller, a union church was built by 
Lutheran and Reformed congregations. For some time Rev. 
Berg continued to supply the congregation. Just when his 
ministry ends and that of Rev. J. Kaempfer begins is un- 
certain. The dates of the early pastors are indefinite. 

Very early in its history Mt. Pleasant became associated 
with the congregations of the Windsor Charge, and later the 


YorK County CONFERENCE 497 


Dallastown Charge. Whether it was really a part of these charges 
is not certain. However, all the pastors who served these charges 
also preached at Mt. Pleasant. Rev. John Conoway of the 
Windsor Charge was pastor of the congregation not less than nine 
years. Under the ministry of Rev. Peter Warner, who served the 
Dallastown Charge from 1871 to 1882, Mt. Pleasant was regarded 
as a member of the Charge and consequently enjoyed the regular 
service of this faithful minister. 

The decade following the death of Rev. Warner was a period 
of considerable struggle and readjustment. The Reformed Con- 
eregation weakened and Mt. Pleasant ceased to be known as a 
Union church. Rev. E. Lenhart from 1882 to 1886 labored faith- 
fully to put new life into the congregation. Rev. C. W. Baker 
serving from July 1, 1886, to September 1, 1888, was successful in 
overcoming certain elements that threatened the life of the con- 
eregation, as well as in strengthening the membership. When 
Rev. M. V. Shatto therefore became pastor the congregation Was 
prepared to remodel the church at a cost of $2000. Rev. Shatto 
served the congregation from January 1, 1889, until January 1, 
1892. 

At the expiration of Rev. A. M. Heilman’s ministry, which 
dates from March 1, 1892, to December 1, 1894, the Dallastown 
Charge was divided and Mt. Pleasant now continued as a part 
of the new Red Lion Charge. Of this field Rev..H. E. Berkey 
became the first pastor. During his ministry the church was re- 
paired at a cost of $700. He served from June 1, 1895, until 
January 1, 1901. 

Rev. Berkey was followed by Rev. U. E. Apple who priered 
the work April 1, 1901. October 15 of that year Mt. Pleasant 
and Sadler’s withdrew from the Red Lion Charge to unite with 
the Lebanon Charge. The pastorswho served Mt. Pleasant as apart 
of the Lebanon Charge are as follows: Rev. G. A. Livingston, Oc- 
tober 15, 1901, to September 1, 1904; Rev. Luther E. Henry, 
April 1, 1905, to June 15, 1914; Rev. H.C. Aroh, October 1, 1914, 
to July 1, 1917; Rev. D.'S. Weimer, November 1, 1917, to April 
151919: Rev. C. Hesiolle Cee August le 1919, to November 
1, 1921; Rev. Willis R. Brenneman, May 15, 1922 —. 

The membership of the congregation is 110. Members of 
the Council are the following: D. A. Breneman, John Miller, D. 
A. Hess, Daniel Althouse, Melvin Hess and Edw. Sweitzer. 


498 HistoRy or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV; JOHN: H. C: MANTFOLD 


PASTOR OF THE MANCHESTER CHARGE 


Reve John +H eCae Wanita 
the eldest. son of Wm. Henry and 
Margaret A. (Sheffer) Manifold, 
was born at Shrewsbury, York 
Co., Pa. He is of Scotch-Irish 
descent through his father. He was 
brought up under Presbyterian 
influences—his parents holding 
church membership in the old 
Round Hill Presbyterian Church 
of Hopewell Township, lower York 
Co. Later, hisfather moved to New 
Freedom, for the practice of 
medicine, where he and his wife 
united with the Lutheran Church 
after its organization by Rev. 
John Menges. Rev. Manifold 
was catechised and confirmed by 
Rev. Edmund Manges. 

He was educated at New Freedom public school, also, the 
academies at Shrewsbury and Stewartstown, also the State Normal 
School at Millersville. He taught public school two years; then 
entered the preparatory school of Pennsylvania College, Gettys- 
burg, in April, 1884, and matriculated in College September, 1885, 
eraduating with the class of 1889, and from the Theological Sem- 
inary, Gettysburg, 1892. 


He was licensed by West Pennsylvania Synod at Mechanies- 
burg, 1891, and ordained by Central Pennsylvania Synod, 1892, 
at Reedsville, Pa., his first charge being at Salona, Clinton Co.., 
Pa. Most of his work was within the bounds of Susquehanna 
Synod, where he served for 19 years—about five years on the 
Statistical Committee and five years as Statistical Secretary; he 
served also as Secretary and President of West Branch Confer- 
ence. His longest pastorate was at Turbotville, Pa., where he 
labored thirteen years. At Palmyra, East Pennsylvania: Synod, 
he served eight and one half years. 

He has been located at Manchester, West Pennsylvania 
Synod, since December Ist, 1923. 

In 1892, he married Miss Mary E. Brenneman, to which 
union six children were born, four of whom are graduates of high 
schools, and higher institutions, and two in colleges at the present 
time. 





YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 499 


CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, MANCHESTER, PA. 
(Manchester Charge) 


Rev. Joun H. C. Maniroup, Pastor 


The Evangelical Lutheran 
Congregation in Liverpool, 
Manchester Township 
York Co., Pa., now Man- 
chester Boro, Pa., was or- 
ganized and the church 
built in 1857. The lot on 
which it was built and now 
stands was bought from 
Paul Yinger and his wife 
for $200.00, deeded April 
3, 1857, to the following 
persons: Henry Cassel, 
George Gross, Daniel Hake, 
John Drayer and Daniel 
Gross to be the property of 
the above named congre- 
gation. A brick building 
was erected 40 by 60 ft., 
fronting on Main St. The 
first chureb council con- 
sisted of the following per- 
sons: Philip Metzgar, Hen- 
ry Cassel, and Peter Spahr, 
elders; George Gross, Sam- 
uel Lichtenberger and Dan- 
iel Hake, wardens. 

This Congregation be- 
came a part of the Quickel’s 
charge, and was served by 
its pastor, the Rev. Con- 
stantine Jacob Deininger, from November, 1857, to November, 
1865, a period of eight years. The Congr egation was incorporated 
in 1858. Its first Lord’s Supper was administered November 7, 
1858, when thirty persons participated. The Rev. J. Rizer then 
served the congregation for seven months in the year 1866, when 
the Rev. A. W. Lilly, from York, Pa., supplied the congregation 
until 1868. In March, 1868, Rev. P. Warner was elected pastor 
and entered upon his ministerial duties and served to March, 
1871, a period of three years. In April, 1871, Rev. P. Anstadt 
began preaching in the Charge, then consisting of the Manchester, 
Starview and Cassel’s Congregations, and continued until 1879, 
every two weeks in German and English alternately. Rev. E. 








Curist LUTHERAN CHURCH 
MANCHESTER, Pa. 


500 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Lenhart was then extended a call and entered upon his duties at 
once and served the congregation until November, 1882. On 
November 26, 1882, Rev. W. 8S. Porr began his service and re- 
signed July 30, 1892. In March 12, 1898, Rev. H. C. Bixler was 
elected as pastor and began his labors, June 1, 18938. At this 
time the charge consisted of the Manchester, Starview, Round- 
town and Neiman’s Congregations. He resigned August 31, 1901. 
During his pastorate a parsonage was bought. In December, 
1901, Rev. M.S. Romig was elected pastor, who entered upon his 
duties and continued until August, 1904, when the Manchester 
Congregation became an independent Charge. 

On June 1, 1905, Rev. T. W. Noll took up the work as regular 
pastor and continued to serve until October, 1907, when Rev. 
L. G. Stauffer took up the work and continued until May 12, 
1912. In August 1, 1912, Rev. H. 8. Garnes assumed the duties 
as pastor, serving until June 30, 1914. On October 1, 1914, Rev. 
H. L. Gerstmyer became the pastor and continued until August 
31, 1918, when he resigned. On January 5, 1919, Rev. J. I. 
Hummer began his labors. During his pastorate the Lutheran 
Church of York Haven became a part of the Charge. Rev. 
Hummer resigned June 24, 1923; and on December 1, 1923, Rev. 
J. H. C. Manifold, the present pastor, accepted a call and entered 
upon his duties. This sketch was prepared, with the aid of the 
minutes and church records, by Mr. Jesse Lichtenberger, who has 
been a member of the congregation for more than half a century. 


ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN*CHURCH;; YORK” HAVENS Eas 
. (Manchester Charge) 


Rev. Joun H. C. Maniroup, Pastor 


The town of York Haven was visited on October 11, 1895, 
by Rev. Chas. W. Baker, Missionary Secretary of the York Co. 
Conference, with the object of organizing a Lutheran congregation. 

The first preaching service held was Sunday, December 15, 
1895, in Walton’s Hall, when seventy persons were present. 

The prospect of a Lutheran congregation was so well received 
that a house to house canvass was at once begun, which also was 
completed by January 8, 1896, with the following results: twenty- 
eight families with one hundred and thirty-one souls are Lutheran, 
while other available material make a total of fifty-two families, 
with two hundred and forty-eight souls. 

On the same date, (January 8, 1896) it was recommended, 
“that steps be taken as soon as possible to organize a Lutheran 
congregation at York Haven.” And within the same month the 
Lutheran Board of Church Extension located and purchased the 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 501 


lot on which the church building now stands. Price paid, $250.00. 


June 5, 1896, the services of Mr. John E. Heindel, then a 
Junior in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, were secured, 
as assistant to the Missionary Secretary, Rev. C. W. Baker, and 
he supphed the congregation until the opening of Seminary in 
September. 

The congregation was organized on June 28, 1896, with 
fifty-one members,—forty by certificate and _ profession of 
faith, seven by confirmation, and four by Baptism. The 





ST. PAUL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK HAVEN, PA. 


services of organizing were held in the local U. B. Church. 
Rev. Dr. Geo. W. Enders and Rev. Peter Livingston, President 
of the Missionary Com. of York Co. Conference, were present 
and assisted in the organization. 


The first official meeting of the congregation after its organi- 
zation was held July Ist, 1896, by Rev. Baker and Mr. John E. 
Heindel, for the purpose of electing a Chureh Council. The re- 
sult was, that Mr. Fred. G. Krout was chosen to the office of Elder 
for two years, and Mr. Henry F. Metzler for one year. Also, 
that Mr. Wm. Cape and Mr. Michael G. Krout were chosen to 
the office of Deacon, each for two years, and Mr. G. C. Emigh 
and Mr. E. M. Nace to the same office, each for one year. The 
Church Council then organized by electing Mr. Henry F. Metzler, 


502 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


President, Mr. G. C. Emigh, Secretary, and Mr. E. M. Nace, 
‘Treasurer. 

Other matters of business transacted at this first meeting of 
the Church Council, were the adopting of the envelope system; 
the appointment of Mr. Henry F. Metzler to secure a charter for 
the new Church organization; and a motion to raise $4000, towards 
a church building. , 

On July 3, Mr. Heindel began soliciting for the building fund. 
The building Committee was selected at a Church Council meet- 
ing held July 19, as follows: Mr. Henry F. Metzler, Chairman, 
Mr. G. C. Emigh and Mr. Wm. Cape. 

Ground was broken for the new church on July 28. Sub- 
scriptions to date amounted to $700. On August 5, the congre- 
gation assumed the entire support of Mr. Heindel as supply pastor. 
On September 13, the corner-stone of the church was laid, Rev. 
Dr. A. W. Lilly, preaching the sermon. 

During the winter of 1896 the paper mills were running on 
short time, hence many of the families left town. All advance 
movements of the congregation were checked, and the chureh 
experienced a reverse. Preaching services were held regularly 
however, under the direction of Rev. Baker with students from 
Gettysburg Seminary. The Sunday School was organized in the 
public school building on March 28, 1897, with a good corps of 
officers and teachers. 

After this event all services were held in the school building. 
Within a few weeks after its organization the Sunday School had 
an enrollment of 115 members. 

Mr. Heindel, then a middler in Seminary, served the congre- 
gation again as supply pastor during the summer of 1897. 

On July Ist, the Church, a frame structure 30x56 feet, was 
reported to be up and painted, and the bell hung in the tower. 
Also the pews and pulpit furniture were on hand ready to be put 
in position. The dedication of the Church and furnishings took 
place on September 5, 1897. Rev. H. L. Baugher, D. D., per- 
formed the service of dedication, assisted by Rev. Peter Living- 
ston. 

The cost of everything as it stood on the day of dedication 
apart from much free labor by the members, was about $3500.00. 

The Sunday School enrollment at this time was 150, with a 
Church membership of 66, a Ladies’ Aid Society of 62; and a 
catechetical class of 16. 

On October Ist, a joint meeting of the Councils of York 
Haven and Goldsboro congregations was held to act upon the 
question of uniting to form a Charge. The proposition was ap- 
proved by the representatives of the congregations, and went 
into effect November Ist, 1897. 

After his graduation from Seminary in 1898, Rev. Heindel 
accepted a call from this pastorate, and served it from June Ist, 


YorK CouNTY CONFERENCE hes 


to September 28, when he resigned to accept a call from Jersey 
itv Ne: 

During the fall of 1898 the Missionary Committee of the York 
Co. Conference, by request of the joint Councils,.supplied the 
pulpits through students from Gettysburg Seminary. 

On January 8, 1899, Rev. F. H. Crissman was elected pastor 
of the York Haven Charge, and began his labors February Ist, 
and continued until June Ist, 1903. 

After Rev. Crissman’s resignation, students from Gettys- 
burg Seminary, supplied the congregations until Rev. J. C. Mc- 
Carney came to the pastorate, and began his labors May Ist, 1904, 
and continued until November Ist, 1907. With this vacancy, 
the President of Gettysburg Seminary was asked by the joint 
Councils to furnish supplies for the congregations until further 
notice. 

From May, 1908, Rev. J. Roy Strock supplied the congrega- 
tions with services until August 30, when he quit to sail for the 
India field as a Missionary. From this time the charge was va- 
eant until May, 1909, when Rev. J. 8. Blank, upon his graduation 
from Seminary, accepted a call, and labored until February 18, 
19 11% 

The lot adjoining the Church on the south was purchased 
in March, 1911, for $150. The object of this purchase was 
eventually to build a parsonage. The same year the Ladies of 
the Working Union feeling that they needed a hall for social 
purposes, decided to build one. Hence they utilized the rear of 
the above lot, and had a frame building 28x50 feet erected, with ad- 
ditional room for a kitchen, at a cost of about $900. Also, had a 
well drilled for convenient water. During this period of improve- 
ments the congregation was supplied by students from Gettys- 
burg Seminary until Rev. Wm. Hoffman was elected pastor, and 
entered upon his labors April 1, 1912, and served until November 
iste 913: 

On June 24, 1914, action was taken to notify the Board of 
Home Missions that the Charge would assume self-support be- 
ginning with the next quarter. 

Rev. L. G. Stauffer was the first pastor under this act of 
independence. His services began July 5, 1914. The Sunday 
School room was built under Rev. Stauffer. 

At a special meeting of Church Council, September, 1915, 
it was decided to build a 8. 8. room, to join the main Church on 
the south side. This addition was completed and ready for re- 
opening and rededication by July, 1916. The Building Com- 
mittee was composed of the following persons: Mr. Wm. Cassel, 
Mr. John Cassel, and Rev. Stauffer. The improvements con- 
sisted of the new room 18x45 feet, new pews and new carpet for 
the audience room of the main church, refrescoing of the same, 
a slate roof on the south side, electric lighting, and steam heat 


504 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


outfit, at a cost of $3211. Rev. H. H. Weber preached the ser- 
mon and had charge of the finances on this occasion. Rey. 
Stauffer resigned from the Charge September 30, 1917. After 
his going, arrangements were made with Rev. Reuben S. Stair, 
that beginning with November, 1917, he was to fill the pulpits 
of the Charge until some time after the first of the next year. 
Later he was elected pastor, and served the congregations from 
March Ist, 1918, to March Ist, 1919. 

At the meeting of Synod in Hanover, October, 1919, Zion 
Lutheran congregation of Goldsboro petitioned that body to con- 
sider favorably its withdrawal from the York Haven pastorate. 
This move was approved by Synod, which was the beginning of 
the present pastorate of Manchester-York Haven. ‘This arrange- 
ment was consummated about the Ist of December, 1919, and 
the pastor of the Manchester congregation, Rev. J. I. Hummer, 
began serving the York Haven congregation at once. His labors 
resulted in a large accession to the Church membership. His 
work closed through resignation June 24, 1923. 

On December Ist, 1923, Rev. J. H. C. Manifold became 
pastor. One of the good things done thus’ far was the revising 
and perfecting of a Record of present members of the congrega- 
tion, together with the work of teaching and preaching and 
catechising. At this writing, Advent, 1924, the congregation has 
a son preparing for the ministry at the Mt. Airy Seminary in the 
person of Francis E. Shearer. 


On 
Ss 
or 


YorK CouNnTY CONFERENCE 


REV. F.. 8. GEESEY 
PASTOR OF THE MUHLENBERG CHARGE 


Rev. F. 8. Geesey was born 
near Red Lion, York County, 
Pa., on 13th of February, 1862. 
His father was Amos Geesey, 
~ the oldest son of Jonathan Gee- 
sey and his wife Sarah (nee 
Flnchbaugh) living near Dallas- 
town, York County, Pa. His 
mother was Louisa (nee Sechrist) 
Geesy, a daughter of John Se- 
christ and wife Elizabeth (nee 
Mitzel) living near Felton, York 
County, Pa. His parents were 
members of the old Bleimeir’s 
Lutheran Church near Dallas- 
town. 

He was catechised by Rev. E. 
Lenhart and confirmed by him 
on June 8th, 1884, in the Luth- 
eran Church, Dallastown, Pa. 

He attended tbe public schools of York Township and worked 
on his father’s farm until reaching his majority; then attended 
the York County Academy for two years under Profs. George W. 
Gross and J. C. Stauffer, Principals. In the fall of 1886, he en- 
tered Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., taking a full Clas- 
sical Course and graduating in June, 1890. 

In the fall of 1890 he entered the Theological Seminary at 
Gettysburg and graduated from that institution June 8, 1893. In 
the Spring of 1893, he received the degree of A. M. from Gettys- 
burg College. 

On October 15; 1892, in the Union Lutheran Church, York, 
Pa., he was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod and was 
ordained in the First Lutheran Church, Carlisle, October 16, 
1893, by the same Synod. He was called to become the pastor 
of the Trinity Charge, York County, Pa., in March, 18938, and came 
to his field of labor on June 13, 1893. This Trinity Charge, with 
the addition of another congregation, has been the Muhlenberg 
Charge for a period of almost thirty years. 

The subject of the above sketch was married to Matilda Ness, 
February 10, 1884, by Rev. Charles W. Sechrist, his uncle. Nine 
children, seven daughters and two sons, have been born to this 
union. Of these, the Rev. M. D. Geesey, Pastor of the First 
Lutheran Church, North Manchester, Ind., is the first born; and 
one daughter is married to a student now in a Lutheran Seminary 
preparing for the Ministry. 





506 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PENNA: 
(Muhlenberg Charge) 


Rev. F. 8. Gursny, Pastor 


Christ Church formerly 
belonged to the Paradise 
Charge of the York County 
Conference. It was a part 
of the Union Evangelical 
Lutheran and Reformed, 
known as the Roth Church. 
It is said that before Rev. 
John G. Schmucker, who 
was pastor of the Christ 
Lutheran Church, York, 
Pa., the Rev. John Casper 
Stoever visited this com- 
munity and did ministerial 
work. In 1809 Rev. John 
G. Schmucker became the 
pastor and served the peo- 
ple for some years. In 
1828 Rev. Andrew G. Dein- 
inger became the pastor of 
the Emanuel Lutheran 
Church, which is now the 
Christ Evangelical Luther- 
an Church. Rev. Andrew 
G. Deininger continued as 
pastor a period of fifty-two 
years. He was much be- 
loved and honored by his 

CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH people. After Rev. A. G. 
York County, Pa. Deininger died, the Rev. 
D. Sell became pastor and 
served the Emanuel congregation until 1888. During the last 
years of Rev. D. Sell’s administration, the Emanuel Lutheran 
and Reformed Congregations separated, each building its own 
house of worship. The Emanuel Lutheran Congregation organ- 
ized itself into a new congregation under the name of Christ 
' Evangelical Lutheran Church. This meeting for organization 
and building a new house of worship was held in Mummert’s 
School House, of Jackson Township, on February 18, 1888. 
Land was purchased and the church building erected at 
once and the first communion held in the new church took place 
November 11, 1888. Rev. Peter Anstadt, D. D., of York, Pa., 
was the minister who preached and served the congregation at 











YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 507 


that time; until they had a regular pastor, the ministers supplying 
were: Revs: A. G. Fastnacht, B. 8. Dise, W. H. Ketterman. 
George W. Enders and E. Manges, until Rev. D. Stock was called 
as supply pastor on November 16, 1889. The Rev. L. K. Sechrist 
was extended a call to become their pastor December 28, 1890. 

The Rev. L. K. Sechrist served the Christ Church until 
October, 1892. There being a vacancy, the present pastor, Rev. 
F. 8S. Geesey, who was then a senior in the Theological Seminary 
at Gettysburg, was invited to supply the congregation, and on 
March 18, 1898, he was unanimously elected pastor and has 
served the congregation up to the cee oe 

Preceding the pastorate of Rev. F. Geesey, the Christ 
Church belonged to the Trinity Charge, a oie also of St. 
Peter’s and St. Paul’s, Stoverstown, but when St. Jacob’s, York 
New Salem, formerly served by Rev. John Conoway, voted to 
unite with the Trinity Charge, the name Muhlenberg was sub- 
stituted for Trinity. This Christ Church has gone through a test 
which but few need to endure, but it has come out a revived and 
consecrated people. 





SAGO SsU THERAN CHURCH YORK COUN LY, (PA. 
(Muhlenberg Charge) 


Rev. F. 8. Gursny, PASTOR 





ST. JAcoB’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PA. 


For a goodly number of years previous to 1861, the people 
of York New Salem and the immediate community held Sunday 
School in the borough school house. Nearly all of these people 


508 History or Wesr PENNSYLVHNIA SYNOD 


were Lutherans belonging to the Christ Lutheran Church of York 
and St. Paul’s (Wolf’s) near the Gettysburg Pike. This ‘‘Sab- 
bath School Association,’ by which name the people holding 
Sunday School designated themselves, at that time was organized 
into a Lutheran and Reformed Church, called St. Jacob’s Evangel- 
ical Lutheran and Reformed Church at New Salem. Under the 
leadership of Rev. C. J. Deininger, who was the pastor of Wolf’s 
Charge of York County, a new union church building was erected 
during the years of 1861 and 1862. The corner stone was laid 
May 26, 1861, and because of the Civil War the building was 
delayed ‘and was not completed until sometime in 1862, when it 
was dedicated and the first Holy Communion was held October 
12, 1862, by the Rev. C. J. Deininger, pastor. At the first Com- 
munion 63 members communed. 

At this writing, only two members of the first Communion 
are living, viz: Susan Gensler, 98 years, and Leah Ehrhart, 88 
years. For a period of 54 years this union continued until 1916 
when the great majority of the Lutheran congregation voted to 
build a Lutheran Chureh for themselves, inviting the Reformed 
congregation, which was small and weak, to enjoy with the Luth- 
eran people the use of their church building for worship, until 
such time as the Lutherans should need it every Lord’s day for 
their own worship. This invitation was not accepted by the Re- 
formed, and the Lutheran congregation proceeded at once to 
erect their own church building. 

On May 20, 1917, the corner stone of the new Lutheran church 
was laid in the presence of a large concourse of people. The Rev. 
I. G. Gotwald, D. D., President of the West Pennsylvania Synod, 
Rev. George M. Diffenderfer, D. D., Carlisle, Pa., and Rev. George 
W. Enders, D. D., York, Pa., were the speakers. The corner 
stone laying was conducted by the Pastor, Rev. F. 5S. Geesey. 
There were a few present at this service who were present at the 
first corner stone laying in May, 1861, fifty-six years before. 

This congregation is now a large one and is growing in church 
activities. The following pastors have served since its or vaniza- 
tion: Revs. C. J. Deininger, John Menges, John Conaway, and 
the present pastor, Rev. I. S. Geesey. During brief vacancies, 
the Rev. Aug. H. Lochman, D. D., and Rev. Adam Stumpf, 
D. D., have supplied preaching, the latter for eleven months 
during 1892 and 1893. This St. Jacob’s Evangelical Lutheran 
Church formerly belonged to the St. Paul’s: (Zeigler’s Charge) 
and it and the Zeigler congregations were served by the Rev. 
John Conaway, until 1892. After the retirement of Rev. John 
Conaway, the St. Paul’s and Zeigler Congregations became a part 
of the Seven Valleys Charge and the St. Jacob’s, New Salem, 
Congregation voted in the spring of 1893 to become a constituent 
part of the Muhlenberg Charge; to which charge, then known as 
the Trinity Charge, the present pastor, Rev. F. S. Geesey, was 


YoRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 509 


called and is still the pastor. This congregation has grown from 
a membership of 146 to a membership of over 400. The present 
church building is one of the finest and most costly church edifices 
in the rural districts of York County. 





pinePAULS: LUTHERAN CHURCH YORK ICOUNTY, PA? 
(Muhlenberg Charge) 


Rev. PAS GEnsny, PASTOR 





Dive AUL SeisUTHERAN CHURCH. YORKe 0. LAY 


For many years previous to the time when St. Paul’s Lutheran 
and Reformed Congregation was organized, the people living in 
the neighborhood of a small country town called: Stoverstown, 
held a Sunday School in an old School House. The land upon 
which the School House was built was donated by a Lutheran, 
Christian Lau. This land was given by Mr. Lau for the purpose 
of public school and religious instruction. The churches nearest 
to Stoverstown were St. Paul’s, Zeigler’s, about three miles south, 
and St. Paul’s, Wolf’s, about four miles north. To the above 
named congregations the majority of families of this immediate 
community belonged. The community had also a goodly number 
of Reformed people, and these together with the Lutherans finally 
formed a union organization in about 1879, and preaching was 
held at times by visiting ministers of the Lutheran and Reformed 
faiths. 

It was in the early part of 1880, when this union organization 
resolved, at a regularly called meeting, to secure land and build 
a house of God. A Building Committee consisting of Jonas 


510 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Hassler and George Henry, Lutherans, and Peter Bentz and 
Michael Klinedinst, Reformed, was appointed. During the sum- 
mer of 1880, the church building was erected, a wooden structure 
with a bell-tower. This building was remodeled in 1912, and a 
large vestibule and tower built. The original church building 
was dedicated late in December, 1880. The Rev. J. C. Deininger, 
Lutheran Pastor of the St. Paul’s (Wolf’s) Church preached, and 
Rey. R. Smith, the Reformed Pastor, the Lutheran Congregation 
not having a pastor at that time. The first pastor the St. Paul’s 
Lutheran Congregation had was Dr. J. D. Hauer, who served this 
congregation with the old St. Peter’s and for some years it was 
connected with the St. Paul’s, Spring Grove, which congregation 
Dr. Hauer also served for some years. 

Dr. J. D. Hauer became the pastor of St. Paul’s in the year 
1881, and served the congregation until December 28, 1890, when 
Rev. L. K. Sechrist was called to become the pastor. 

Rev. L. K. Sechrist continued his relation as pastor of St. 
Paul’s until October, 1892, when he resigned to retire from the 
active ministry. 

There was then a vacancy from October, 1892, to March, 
1893, in this congregation, which now belonged to the Trinity 
Charge of the West Pennsylvania Synod, composed of St. Paul’s, 
the Christ Church and St. Peter’s,—all within a few miles of Spring 
Grove, York County, Penna.,— during which the congregation 
was supplied by neighboring pastors, or by students from the 
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa. The present 
pastor, Rev. F. 8. Geesey, a senior at Gettysburg Seminary, was 
unanimously elected Pastor and moved to Spring Grove, June 
[39 593: 

The Congregation has increased in membership from the small 
eroup of 65 members to 260 confirmed members. The oldest 
record of a Church Council meeting which the writer could find 
was held May:<17, 1879. The first interment recorded in the burial 
record was made February 10, 1881. In 1907, land was bought 
adjacent to the old burial ground and a beautiful cemetery is 
now owned by this congregation and also a good church building, 
recently repaired and renovated. 





SI. PETER’S LUTHERAN - CHURCH, YORK .GOUNTY) eae 
(Muhlenberg Charge) 


Rev. F. 8. Grresey, Pastor 
St. Peter’s Church, North Codorus Township, York County, 


is a quite old congregation. It is deplorable that we have so very 
little real history about it. We have, however, history dating 


YoRK CountTY CONFERENCE DLL 


back to 1781, when Reformed and Lutheran people held services 
in this church community. This congregation has had four 
church buildings. 

We could not find the name of its first pastor, nor the date of 
its organization. Being mid-way between York and Hanover, 
Pa., in which towns were the first Lutheran Churches in York 
County West of the Susquehanna River, this old St. Peter’s 





ST. PETER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., Pa. 


Church must have been served at times by the pastors of the Old 
Christ Church, York, and St. Matthew’s, Hanover, Pa. The first 
pastor whose name the writer found among German Script was 
Rev. Charles Witner, or Witmer, which pastorate dates back to 
1830. Doubtless other ministers served this old congregation 
many years previous to Rev. Witmer. In 1850 Rev. L. Gerhard 
became the pastor and continued for a period of twelve years, 
when he resigned. In the year 1862, Rev. J. D. Hauer, D. D., 
became the pastor. Dr. Hauer served this St. Peter’s Congrega- 
tion for twenty-eight years and was much beloved by his people. 
After the resignation of Dr. Hauer, Rev. L. K. Sechrist, then 
serving the Hallem Charge or the Kreutz Creek Charge, York 
County, was called to become the pastor and served until Novem- 
ber of 1892, when he resigned in order to retire from the active 
ministry. The present pastor, Rev. F. 8S. Geesey, then a student 
in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, was invited to preach 
to this congregation December 4, 1892. 

The Rev. F. 8. Geesey was invited by the St. Peter’s Congre- 
gation to serve them if possible, once a month, from the beginning 
of December, 1892, to the last week in March, 1893, when he was 
unanimously elected to become their pastor. The Rev. Geesey 
held the call under consideration until the 23rd of May, 1898, 


‘jn History ofr West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


when he accepted the call and moved to Spring Grove, June 13, 
1893, as pastor of the then called Trinity Charge of which St. 
Peter’s was a part. The first church building of the old St. 
Peter’s Congregation was a log building, located about one-half 
mile away from the present one and was erected under the direction 
of Jacob Lishey, the Reformed pioneer worker in this church com- 
munity. The second church building was a frame one located in 
the southwest corner of the old cemetery; and the third was a brick 
building with a gallery or elevated floor on three sides of the church 
edifice, located on the southeast corner of the old graveyard. 
This old brick building was razed in the spring of 1896, and the 
present fine and churchly edifice erected during the Summer of 1896. 
The dedication of this building was held December 13, 1896. Rev. 
G. W.- Enders, D. D.,. Pastor of the Christ’ Church, "Yorks Pa= 
preached in German and Prof. Wm. Krebs, Reformed, of 
Littlestown, preached in English, at the morning services. 

In the afternoon of the same day, Rev. L. K. Derr, D. D., of 
Reading, Pa., preached in German and Prof. J. W. Richard, D. D., 
of Gettysburg, preached in English. The Church edifice was paid 
for before the day of dedication with $13.00 remaining in the build- 
ing fund. 

This old St. Peter’s was for many years a rather small and 
weak congregation in numbers. When the present pastor came 
on the field the confirmed members numbered 86. It has since 
erown to be a large congregation, numbering over 400 members. 
This last church building was refrescoed and rededicated on No- 
vember 25, 1923, when Rev. J. A. Singmaster, D. D., from the 
Gettysburg Theological Seminary, preached the dedicatory ser- 
mon, representing the Lutheran side of the Union Church; and 
Rev. F. Frantz, of the Lancaster Reformed Seminary, preached 
the dedicatory sermon, representing the Reformed side. 

From this St. Peter’s Lutheran Congregation, the first For- 
elgn Missionary from York County went to India, Rev. H. R. 
Spangler. 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 513 


REV. MERVIN E. SMITH 
PASTOR OF THE NEW FREEDOM CHARGE 


Mervin Elmer Smith, son of the 
Jate Jacob C. and Hannah M. 
Smith, was born January 16, 
18838, in Menallen Township, 
Adams County, Penna. 

His father was a Civil War 
Veteran and a farmer. He and 
his good wife were faithful 
members and regular attendants 
at all of the services of St. James’ 
Evangelical Lutheran Church at 
Wenksville of the Bendersville 
Charge. 

Mervin was the youngest child 
of seven children and was dedi- 
cated to the Gospel Ministry by 
his mother when but an infant. 
He was baptized in St. James’ 
Church by the pastor Rev. Wil- 
liam McSherry, and was confirmed in the same Church at the age 
of twelve by Pastor U. A. Hankey. He later attended the Cum- 
land Valley State Normal School and graduated frem the same 
in 1902. He then taught school for three winters in Adams, 
Lancaster and Dauphin Counties, the last year being in a High 
School. 





The summers were spent in preparing for College. Entered 
Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, Pa., 1905, and graduated 
in 1909 with A. B. degree; entered Gettysburg Theological Semin- 
ary, 1909, and graduated in 1912. He was licensed by the West 
Pennsylvania Synod in October, 1911, and ordained by the same 
Synod in October, 1912. He accepted a call to the Upper Frank- 
ford Charge of West Pennsylvania Synod, and entered upon his 
duties there April 1, 1912. 


During the pastorate of three years and seven months two 
of the churches were remodeled and paid for, and 81 adults 
were received into membership. He served as  ecretarv of the 
Cumberland Valley Conference. 


November 1, 1915, he was called to Immanuel Lutheran 
Church, Williamstown, Pa., East Pennsylvania Synod. While 
pastor here he was Secretary of the Harrisburg Conference. De- 
cember 10, 1921, he was called to his present pastorate, the New 
Freedom Charge of the West Pennsylvania Synod. He is at this 
time the Secretary of the York County Conference. 


ny! History or Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


JERUSALEM CHURCH (FISSEL’S). YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(New Freedom Charge) 


Rev. Mervin E. SmitH, Pastor 





JERUSALEM (FISSEL’S) LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


Jerusalem, or Fissel’s, Church, by which name it is better 
known in York County, is one of the oldest churches in southern 
York County. 

It seems to have gotten its nickname from one Frederick 
Fisel, who obtained a grant of 200 acres of land from the Land 
Office in Philadelphia, July 15, 1762. Nine years later, on June 
Ist, 1771, there was an indenture of one acre of land for five 
shillings by Frederick Fisel to Peter Baker for the use of the 
members of the Lutheran and Calvinist Congregations. 


According to best information found, Fissel’s Church was or- 
ganized in 1783 as a Union Church, Lutheran and Reformed. 
The organization was effected by the Rev. J. G. Bager (or 
Baugher). He was pastor at Hanover and ministered to congre- 
gations from Baltimore to Grindstone Hill in Franklin County. 
During his life time he ministered to hundreds of congregations 
and organized possibly over a hundred. He served the Charge 
until 1785. 


According to a record of deed the above acre was increased 
to four acres and twenty-three perches, July Ist, 1785. 

The congregations bought a farm adjoining of 29114 acres 
for 14 pounds and 10 shillings in the year 1796. 

A charter was obtained in 1814. 

The original church was a small log building, which was 
afterwards replaced by a larger one of the same kind. The second 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 


church was used as a house of worship until the year 1851, when 


a handsome brick edifice was erected. 


Those who served as the early pastors were: Revs. John 
Herbst, Sr., John Herbst, Jr., Stecker and Grobp. Among the 
later pastors may be named: Revs. Jacob Kaempfer, A. Berg, 
J. H. Menges, E. Manges, E. Miller, E. E. Schantz, D. 8. Martin, 
A.S. Hain, and M. E. Smith, the present pastor, who entered upon 
his duties in December, 1921. 

A community electric line was built and electric lights in- 


stalled in church building in 1928. 
The present membership is 284. 


MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH, RAILROAD, PA. 


(New Freedom Charge) 


Rev. Mervin E. Smitu, Pastor 


About forty years ago a 
Union Sunday School was 
organized in the little town 
of Railroad and conducted 
in a hall. 

In 1903, the former school 
house was purchased and 
remodeled so that it would 
be convenient for Sunday 
School and church purpos- 
es. The cost of remodel- 
ing, including purchase price 
of school house, was 
$3,000.00, exclusive of labor 
and material given gratuit- 
ously. $2,000.00 had been 
provided for before the 
dedication. The late Rev. 
George W. Enders, D. D., 
preached the dedicatory 
sermon and made a financial 
appeal. $650.00 more was 
provided through the above 
effort. This Sunday School 
continued regularly for nine 
years. Irequently preach- 
ing service was conducted 
by neighboring ministers. 
As the years came and went 





MesstAH LUTHERAN CHURCH 
In ATHROAD GLAS 


516 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


there was an ever increasing desire for a church organization for 
this small village. On August 21, 1912, a petition was forwarded 
to the President of Synod with the signatures of sixty-seven persons 
thereon, praying for Synodical permission to organize a Lutheran 
Church at Railroad. In response to this plea September 12, 1912, 
the congregation was duly organized. 


The “Messiah” congregation 
was received into New Freedom 
Charge, and the sainted Rev. A. 
S. Hain became her first pastor. 
February 2, 19138, forty-three 
persons were received as charter 
members; and by the end of the 
first Synodical year a member- 
ship of 64 was reported to Synod. 
The present pastor, Rev. M. 
E. Smith, began his service here 
in December, 1921. 


This Church 1s the only Church 
in the small borough of Rail- 
road, and has a field of service. 
Although this congregation has 

epee \. es Stas not made a rapid growth, she 
has an enviable record, in that 
she never failed to pay her full apportionment and a liberal excess. 





YorK CounTY CONFERENCE 517 


ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, NEW FREEDOM, PA. 
(New Freedom Charge) 


Rev. MervIN E. SmitH, PASTOR 


Prior to the organization 
of this congregation, the 
Lutherans of New Free- 
dom and community were 
connected and worshipped 
with the congregations at 
Stiltze’s and Fissel’s Chur- 
ches, which are four miles 
away, and Shrewsbury 
Church, which is three miles 
away. 

A number of Lutherans 
living in the town had no 
means of conveyance, and 
were obliged to walk this 
distance to attend services. 
This being a continued in- 
convenience, 1t was planned 
to secure some pastor to 
conduct services at New 
Freedom, even if there could 
not be an immediate or- 
ganization. 

New Freedom being just 
about midway between the 
other three churches men- 
tioned above, which had 
old and strong congrega- 
tions, was too near to all St. JOHN’s LUTHERAN CHURCH 
to draw many members New Freepom, Pa. 
from any of them. And 
the town being small and having two or three churches already, 
it was a great undertaking for the Lutherans to organize a 
congregation. 

In 1869 Rev. A. Berg, then pastor of the Shrewsbury Charge, 
was secured to preach in a hall. In the same year, or during 
1870, he succeeded in organizing the Lutheran congregation. 

For a number of years the congregation worshipped in differ- 
ent rooms and halls and in the local United Evangelical and M. 
EK. Churches. 

The congregation now realizing the permanency and the bene- 
fit of the organization, turned their minds to the building of a 
church home. 





518 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In 1877 the present church was erected, at a cost of $3,000. 
Since then the church was entirely renovated and many changes 
made. 

For this convenience the small band made heroic sacrifices. 
Much money had to be borrowed by individuals to pay their 
subscriptions. There was no outside prop to support them. A 
handful of people, without help from any Church Board, paid 
for their church and their pastor’s salary. They toiled and 
labored until they gained their independence. 

Today St. John’s Congregation stands among the well- 
organized and up-to-date congregations of the Lutheran Church; 
and though the membership is not large, the Lutheran Congre- 
gation is the largest in New Freedom. 

This Congregation was part of the Shrewsbury Charge until 
the Charge was divided in 1894. Then St. John’s and Fissel’s 
congregations formed the New Freedom Charge, with parsonage 
at New Freedom. 

The congregation was served by the following pastors: Rev. 
A. Berg, serving the Shrewsbury Charge, was secured to preach in 
1869, who succeeded in organizing! the congregation. He later 
became the first regular pastor. Rev. Berg resigned in 1873. Rev. 
J. H. Menges was elected his successor on August 15, 1877. Rev. 
Edmund Manges was called to succeed Rev. J. H. Menges in 
February, 1878. . Rev. E: Miller, D. D., became pastor in 1879 
and served until 1894. Rev. E. E. Shantz was elected on June 
9th, 1895, and resigned June, 1904. Rev. David 8. Martin as- 
sumed charge of the work on May 1, 1905, and remained until 
June 4, 1912. He was succeeded by Rev. A. 8S. Hain, 1912 to 
1921; the present pastor, Rev. M. E. Smith, assumed charge in 
December of 1921. 


REV... GEORGE W. ENDERS, JR, Deb: 
PASTOR OF THE PARADISE CHARGE 


The subject of this sketch bears his father’s name, George 
W., who was pastor of Christ Lutheran Church of York from 
July 1, 1882, until the time of his death, November 9, 1921, a 
pastorate of almost forty years. His mother was Mrs. Phoebe A. 
(Miller) Enders; and he was born at Bridgeton, N. J., August 10, 
1871. 

His early education was received in the schools of York, Pa. 
His collegiate and theological training came to him through the 
institutions of our Lutheran Church at Gettysburg, Pa. 

He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod in Zion 
Lutheran Church, October 20, 1895, by recommendation of the 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 519 


Ministerium of West Pennsylvania Synod, held at Seven Valleys, 
Pa., May 18, 1896, he was ordained in Christ Lutheran Church, 
York, Pa., on June 14, 1896; and was dismissed to the Franckean 
Synod on June 30, 1896, to become pastor of the Argusville 
Lutheran Church on that territory. On Dec. 1, 1899, he accept- 
ed a call to Union Bridge, Md. 

He became pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
Clearfield, Pa., September 1, 1905, where he continued to serve 
until December 1, 1912. He accepted a call to and assumed the 
duties of the Paradise pastorate in September, 1913, which is 
still his field of pastoral service. 


PARADISE, “HOLZ SCHWAMM” LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
AO LK COUN EY ee Ae 


(Paradise Charge) 
Rpy- Ge. We BNDERS,. JR.) 1.) Pastor 


This historic church originated in 1745. Rev. Jacob Goering, 
who then lived at Carlisle, was the first pastor. Rev. John George 
Schmucker was pastor in 1809, and Rev. Conrad Reiman in 1817. 
The church was first owned by the Lutherans, and the congrega- 
tion for many years was ministered to by the pastors of St. Mat- 
thew’s Church of Hanover. Rev. Jacob Lischy, as early as 1750, 
performed the duties of a missionary through this section for 
German Reformed Churches, and Rev. William Otterbein, of the 
same denomination, for a short time preached here. 

February 15, 1826, an article of agreement was formed be- 
tween the Lutheran and Reformed congregations, which gave to 
both equal rights and privileges to the church, church property 
and burying ground. , 

The following named church officers bound themselves and 
their successors to fulfill the article of agreement: John Trostle and 
Ludwig Swartz, elders; and William Trostle, Samuel Zerfas, John 
Baker and Daniel March, wardens of said congregations, Luth- 
eran and Reformed. It was witnessed by Henry King, John 
Wehler and George Trostle, and acknowledged before Jacob 
Ernst, February 27, 1826. 

Rey. A. G. Deininger was pastor of the Lutheran congrega- 
gation for fifty-one years in succession, and died September 28, 
1880, aged eighty-six years. He was succeeded by Daniel Sell 
and Henry J. Darmstetter. In 1907 the congregation under the 
pastorate of Rev. E. Lenhart had a membership of 275. This 
church is a fine brick structure surrounded by a beautiful grove. 

Since September, 1918, Rev. George W. Enders, Jr., D. D., 
has been the pastor. He reports a present membership of 300. 


520 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


SHILOH LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Paradise Charge) 


Rev. G: We’ Enpers, JR D> DD.) PASTOR 


Shiloh Church, locally known as Neiman’s, is owned and used 
by both Lutheran and Reformed congregations. It was organized 
in 1881 by Rev. E. Lenhart. The building was erected in 1883, 
at a cost of $4,600. It is situated on the road leading from York 
to Dover. The clergymen present at the dedicatory services were, 
Rev. J. O. Miller, I. S. Weisz, G. W. Enders and Peter Anstadt. 
The building committee were: Jonathan Wilt, George Leckrone 
and Jesse Heilman. Rev. W.S. Porr, (1883-1892) the first pastor 
of the Lutheran denomination, has been succeeded by Rev. H. 
C. Bixler, (1893-1901), Rev. E. Lenhart, (1902-1913), and Rev. 
G. W. Enders, D. D., who is at present serving. The Lutheran 
congregation numbers 186 members. 





REV. J. C. McCARNEY, B. D. 
PASTOR OF THE QUICKEL’S CHARGE 


The subject of this sketch was born June 22, 1876, at Arendts- 
ville, Pa., the son of John D. and Susan (Oyler) McCarney. 

Under the religious influence amd training of the Trinity 
Lutheran Church of his home town, of which the Rev. D. T. 
Koser, D. D., was pastor, he was received into active church 
membership by confirmation in 1892. 

After a course of preparatory training at Gettysburg Aca- 
demy, he entered Gettysburg College, and was graduated with 
the class of 1901. The next three years were spent in study at 
the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, from which institution 
he was graduated in 1904 with the degree of B. D., receiving the 
same year the degree of A. M. from his Alma Mater. 

He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod in 1903, 
and ordained by the same Synod in 1904. 

He has served the following pastorates inthe Lutheran Church: 
Goldsboro— York Haven Charge, 1904 to 1907; Frieden’s Charge, 
Somerset Co., 1907 to 1922; Quickel’s Charge, York Co., 1922 to 
the present time. 

He married Miss Beulah R. Miller, May 16, 1906, the cere- 
mony being performed by Dr. D. T. Koser. 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 521 


MTS ZION LUTHERAN, GHURGH,, YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Quickel’s Charge) 


Rev. J. C. McCarnny, B. D., Pastor 


There is but little written history of the Mt. Zion Lutheran 
Church. A number of influential men, Stricklers, Snyders, Smy- 
sers and Spanglers, came together on a Sunday afternoon. This 
meeting was held in a place back of the present building. A few 
weeks later Rev. Mr. Martin, of York City, preached to a 
similar gathering on the text: ‘James 1:22.” This was in the 
spring of 1844. 

At another meeting, the date of which is not recorded, it 
was proposed to erect a building. It was constructed of logs 
taken from the surrounding forest. 

In 1852 the congregation was organized. It was served by 
Rev. C. J. Deininger for thirty-three years. There were eighteen 
charter members. His pastorate extended to the time of his 
death, January 21, 1885. The progress of the church may be 
measured in a degree by the fact that at that time its membership 
numbered 200. 

The Rev. J. H. Leeser was elected pastor May 5, 1889, and 
served until April 18, 1890. On December 21, of the same year, 
1890, the Rev. Adam Stump, D. D., became the pastor of Quick- 
el’s Charge, and his long and faithful pastorate extended until 
March 18, 1922, when he departed this life. The present pastor, 
the Rev. J. C. McCarney, B. D., entered upon his duties on No- 
vember 26, 1922. 


QUICKEL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Quickel’s Charge) 


Rev. J. C. McCarnegy, Pastor 


In gathering the history of Quickel’s church one has to 
brush the dust from some ancient volumes. For the history be- 
gins when the colony of Pennsylvania was only 83 years old. 
White people had been living in York County for only 35 years. 
Quickel’s church was then in Dover Township. York had only 
a few dozen log houses. It had been laid out only 24 years. 
The Conewagos were still the home for the prowling wolf. The 
distance or country from Little Conewagoto Y ork could be traversed 
without going into the sunshine. The roads were difficult to find 
and hard to traverse. The early members were German people 
and spoke only German. 


522 History OF WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


They were Godly people who loved their church. They 
traveled many miles to attend services. 

Services were held first in a building about one mile north- 
west of the present site. That building was erected in 1763. 
This property was bought jointly by Lutherans and Calvins from 
the Penns and contained about 30 acres. The price was $37.73 
in our money. The land was deeded to Fred Eicholtz, Ludwig 
Weir and Henry Shank, in trust for a schoo! house. Such stone 
house was built and church and school were held in it for about 
25 years. 

But this building proved to be too far west for the center of 
population. So on March 20, 1770, a tract of land was bought 
from Michael and Barbara Quickel. This contained about 2% 
acres. The price was $9.69. This building was made of logs 
and stood south of the presént church about 150 feet. This 
church was enlarged in 1793. It served until 1850. 

The present church was built in 1850. More land was 
purchased in 1806 and 1856. In 1896 the old cemeteries were 
about filled. Then 10 acres more were added. ‘The present 
church was re-modeled in 1881. 

There are more than four thousand dead buried in Quickel’s 
cemeteries. 

In 1797 the membership was 103. During her 157 years 
her largest membership was in 1886 when she had 425 communi- 
cants. 

The pastors who have served Quickel’s are as follows: Rev. 
Nicholas Hornell, 1763-1765; Rev. George Bager, 1765-1770; Rev. 
John N. Kurtz, 1770-1789; Rev. Jacob Goering, 1783-1807; (was 
associate pastor to Rev. Kurtz part time); Rev. John G. Schmuck- 
er, 1791-1793; 1809-1842; Rev. William German, 1842-1848; Rev. 
Augustus H. Lochman, 1848-1858; Rev. C. J. Deininger, 1858- 
1888; Rev. J. H. Leesér, 1885-1890; Rev. Adam Stump, 1890- 
1922; Rev. J. C. McCarney, 1922- : 





YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE O20 
REV. JEROME MICHAEL GUSS, D. D. 


PASTOR OF THE RED LION CHARGE 


Jerome Michael Guss, son of 
William Guss and Mary Ann 
Moyer, was born on a farm, in 
Milford Township, Juniata Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, February 3, 
1868. His parents were indus- 
trious, thrifty, and devoted 
members of the Lutheran Church. 
His early religious training in 
the home was supplemented by 
instruction in the little country 
church, known as St. Stephen’s 
Evangelical Lutheran 
Church and belonging to the 
Mifflintown Charge. Here he 
attended Sunday School, and 
was confirmed when but eleven 
years old. 

His early schooling was _ re- 7 
ceived in a country public school. For two years he attended the 
Mifflintown Academy, and then became the teacher, for two 
winters, of his home public school. At the age of twenty, he 
entered Missionary Institute, now Susquehanna University, at 
Selinsgrove, Pa., from which he graduated in 1891. In September 
of the same year, he entered the Junior Class of Pennsylvania 
College, at Gettysburg, Pa. He graduated with the class of 1893. 
That fall he entered the Gettysburg Theological Seminary, taking 
the three years’ course, and graduating in June, 1896. On June 
8, 1921, bis Alma Mater, Gettysburg College, conferred on him 
the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. 

He was licensed to perform the duties of a Lutheran minister 
by the Synod of Central Pennsylvania, at Mifflintown, Pa., in 
September, 1895. He was ordained to the ministry by the same 
Synod, at Lock Haven, Pa., in September, 1896. 

During his ministry, he has served the following charges: 
Duncannon, Pa., from June 1, 1896, to March 15, 1900; Etna, 
Pa., from March 15, 1900, to November 1, 1910; Middleburg, 
Pa., from November 1, 1910, to September 1, 1913; Muhlenberg 
Memorial, Phila., from September 1, 1913, to July 1, 1921; Luther 
Memorial, Chicago, from July 1, 1921, to May 1, 1923; Red Lion, 
Pa., from May 1, 1928, to the present time. 

By faithful preaching of the Word, thorough catechetical in- 
struction, careful pastoral oversight, gratifying success has at- 
tended his labors. His success as a mission pastor was demon- 





524 HIstorRyY oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


strated in two mission fields, Etna and Philadelphia, making each 
self-supporting in four years’ time. In every charge he has 
ereatly increased the membership, developed strong organizations, 
and done more or less church building. At Duncannon and 
Middleburg, churches were repaired and remodeled. At Etna and 
Philadelphia, lots were secured, church buildings erected, and fine 
parsonages purchased. In the latter fields, his labors were ex- 
traordinarily fruitful. 

It fell to his lot to entertain two Synods: the Synod of Central 
Pennsylvania, at Middleburg, in 1910, and the Synod of East 
Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, in 1920. He has prepared and 
read many assigned papers before Conferences, Synods, and 
Ministerial Associations. 

He has enjoyed the high esteem of his associates in the min- 
istry, who have entrusted him with many honorable and responsible 
positions. He was twice elected delegate to the General Synod. In 
1906 he was elected amember of the Board of Directors of the Theo- 
logical Seminary at Gettysburg. In 1910, he was President of 
the Pittsburgh Synod. In the same year, he was President of the 
Pittsburg Inner Mission Board. For four years, he was President 
of the Pittsburg District Luther League. He has served on many 
committees of Synod, Conference, and general church activities. 

On October 28, 1896, he married Evangeline, daughter of 
Rev. Jonathan Rose Dimm, D. D., LL. D., and his wife, Mary 
Catharine Hill. At the time of the marriage of his daughter, 
Dr. Dimm was the President of Susquehanna University. To 
this union, a son was born—Walter Dimm Guss, who graduated 
from the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, 
in June, 1925. Doctor Guss is a great grandson of Rev. John 
Conrad Walter, a faithful Lutheran Pastor in Central Pennsyl- 
cania, in the times of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. 


EMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, FREYSVILLE, PA. 
(Red Lion Charge) 
REV.) VeeGuss sia ePAsToR 


The history of this church carries us back more than one 
hundred and fifty years. Some of the land of the present ceme- 
tery was used for a burying ground as early as 1745. Some of 
it was deeded by M. Deis to Simon Anstine, Peter Steffy, Peter 
LeFever, Peter Schmuck, and Conrad Fox, in trust for the two 
congregations, Lutheran and Presbyterian. In 1884, two and one 
fourth acres of land, purchased from Henry Stein, a member of 
the Lutheran Congregation, were added to the cemetery. In 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 525 


1899, a little over three acres were added from this same source, 
at a cost of $125.00 per acre. The cemetery, since the separation 
of the two congregations in 1909, remains the property of the two 
congregations jointly. For many years, the old part of the ceme- 
tery had been much neglected, and was in a much dilapidated 
condition. But, in recent years, the whole plot has been leveled 
up, weeds and briars have been cleared away, tombstones are 
arranged in uniform rows, and the whole cemetery presents a very 
neat and attractive appearance. 

The Freysville settlement obtained its name, as is self-evident, 
from the early inhabitants. On one of the oldest tombstones is 
the name of “Anna Frey,’ who died in 1748. The oldest tomb- 
stone here bears the date 1745, but the name cannot be deciphered. 
Many graves are unmarked. Some bear illegible inscriptions in 
German. The oldest tombs have the names carved in English. 
Within the sacred portals of this historic old church-yard slumber 
the remains of several patriots of the American Revolution. Freys- 
ville is only a small village, containing about a dozen houses. But 
there are three churches; Lutheran, Reformed, and Evangelical. 

The present corporate name of the Lutheran Church 1s: 
“HKmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church of Freysville, County of 
York, State of Pennsylvania.”’ It was formerly a ‘Union Church,” 
and known for years as, ‘“Emanuel Lutheran and Reformed Church 
of Freysville.” The first deed for a church lot was made out for 
the “Lutheran and Presbyterian Congregations.” For many 
years of its early history, it was familiarly known as “Frey's 
Church.” Its familiar name to-day is ‘“The Freysville Church.” 

Just when the first preaching began at Freysville is a much 
mooted question. The antiquity of the cemetery would indicate 
that there must have been public services held in this locality, at 
a very early date. ‘Tradition says that the first religious services 
were held in a log school house, located at the north-west corner 
of the cross-roads in Freysville. It is probable that the pastors 
of Christ Lutheran Church in York, and at Kreutz Creek Lutheran 
Church, were frequently called upon to preach at Freysville, long 
before a church was organized. It is a significant fact, that on a 
list of male members of Christ Lutheran Church in York, in the 
time of Pastor Stoever, from 1733-1743, appear the names of 
prominent early settlers at Freysville, e. g., Conrad Frey and 
Ludwig Stein. In “Gibson’s History of York County,’ it is re- 
corded of the Freysville Church: “The Lutheran Congregation 
was served generally by the same pastors who officiated at the 
church in Lower Windsor.” Among those pastors were: Revs. 
Schaum, Hochheimer, Bager, Hornell and Raus, who “conducted 
missionary services among the early settlers, until 1769.” 

The first church was founded, March 28, 1771. This is au- 
thentic according to the deed and other records. The surround- 
ing land was owned by Conrad Frey, an early settler and a Luth- 


526 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


eran, who on the date mentioned above deeded a church lot con- 
taining one and one half acres, for five shillings, to Jacob Segner, 
Adam Heindel, Jacob Ruby, Stephen Slifer, in trust for the 
“Tutheran and Presbyterian Congregations.’ The above men- 
tioned church lot was located in the field, about two hundred 
yards from the present Lutheran Church. 

Several theories are advanced to account for the use of the 
name ‘Presbyterian,’ in connection with the early history of 
this church. One theory is: “At a very early date, the German 
Reformed Church was thought to be the same as the Presbyterian, 
except that the worship of the former was conducted in the 
German language.’ Another theory is: “‘At some period the 
Presbyterians died out, and were supplanted by the Reformed 
Congregation.”’ Preserved in.an old cedar chest in the Reformed 
Church, are old receipts and other documents, which prove that 
the name “Presbyterian”? was used as late as 1820, and even 
later. Another writes: “An historical fact reveals that the Re- 
formed and Presbyterians were co-laborers.’’ From all this, we 
conclude that at first the Presbyterians were associated with the 
Lutherans in this church. Later, probably, both the Presby- 
terians and Reformed co-operated with the Lutherans. Then, 
about 1820, or later, the Presbyterians began to “die out,” and 
finally the German Reformed congregation was the only other 
church co-operating. 

The first church building was erected in 1771. It was made 
of logs. The spaces between the logs were “chunked,” and had 
no outside plastering, according to the custom of those times. 
The gable end and window frames were painted red. The door 
and inside were painted white. From the boxed door-sill to the 
floor inside was a step of unusual height, over which full-grown. 
persons could step without much difficulty, while the children 
delighted to jump from the door-sill down to the floor inside. 
But, this picture of those primitive structures is incomplete. 
Another writes: “They were covered with hand-made shingles, 
had no chimneys, and often no floors, except the tamped earth. 
The pulpit frequently was only the half of a hollow tree, hung 
like a swallow’s nest on the side of the wall. The seats were 
slabs with legs. No fires were made, except on the outside. Only 
the carpenter was paid for his work. All the materials were 
donated, and the other work was gratis. But the life of those 
log structures, unless weather-boarded, was only from ten to 
twenty years.” Hence, we find this church undergoing con- 
siderable repair work, 1801-1803. We learn of this fact from old 
receipts, preserved in that old cedar chest. These receipts were 
given for money received in payment for large quantities of 
“white lead,” “glass,” “shingle-nails,” ‘flooring nails,’ ‘four 
thousand feet of boards,” ete. About 1820, this church building 
was once more much improved. It was made higher, weather- 


YorK County CONFERENCE 527 


boarded, and an end gallery added. It is probable that it was 
this “improved” church of which we read: ‘The church was 
heated by a heavy plated stove, long enough to receive cord-wood 
full length.” 

In 1852, the location of 
the church building was 
changed. About three hun- 
dred yards from the loca- 
tion of the first building, 
a brick church was built. 
This building was located 
at the corner of the ceme- 
tery, Where stands the pres- 
ent Reformed Church. 
These stirring events came 
about the close of the long 
and fruitful pastorate of 
Rev. Peter Herman. In 
1884, during the pastorate 
Otminevet wuenhart, this 
church was improved by 
the addition of a vestibule, 
tower and bell, re-painted 
and papered, and re-dedi- 
eated. Again, in 1890-91, EMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH 
during the pastorate of FReysvitte, Pa. Buttr 1n 1852 
eve Vie Vee shatto, “the 
church was improved by new pews, pulpit recess, new pulpit 
and altar furniture, carpeted, papered, painted, new chandeliers, 
and new organ. 

Who was the pioneer Lutheran preacher when the Freysville 
Church was organized, in 1771? If there are records in existence 
that state that fact, they are not known to the writer. Though 
the old German Record Book of this church shows records of 
baptisms, as far back as 1777, unfortunately no pastor’s name 
appears until much later. In the old cedar chest of the church, 
we find preserved a number of very old: documents and records. 
In an “Alms Book,”’ are found entries, written in German, as 
early as 1783. In very neat German handwriting, entries are 
made in 1785, 1786, and 1787, bearing the signature of ‘“‘Lucas 
Raus, V. D. M.”’ His name is sometimes written, ‘Rouse,’ and 
again “Rauss.”? After his resignation of the church in York, in 
1763, Rev. Raus was busy establishing and supplying several 
churches in the vicinity of York, up to the time of his death in 
1788. Dr. Stump concludes that it was he who founded the 
“Bleimeier” Church, in 1758. In 1763, he founded the ‘‘Dover”’ 
Church. In 1764, he established the “Kreutz Creek’? Church. 
In 1770, he served the ‘‘Schuster’s’’ Church. In 1772, from origi- 





528 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


nal documents, we know he organized ‘“‘Stehl’s’” Church. Dr. 
Stump, in a paper on the history of Wolf’s Church, makes the 
direct statement that Raus organized Frey’s Church. In view 
of all the facts stated above, we have come to the definite conclu- 
sion that Rev. Lucas Raus was the Lutheran preacher, who or- 
gvanized the Frey’s Church, in 1771, and that he supplied it up 
to the time of his death, in 1788. 

From German records, under date of 1785, we glean the 
following names of the church officers: George F. Frey, Jacob 8. 
Meyer, Jacob Brummel, Peter Wambach, Hans Doerfner, Philip 
Wambach, Michael Wambach, Johann Meyer, Bernhard Frey, 
Daniel Koehler, Heinrich Kaltreider, Max Gohnes, Johannes 
Brandt, Johannes Phenes. 

From the early ‘Minutes of the Lutheran Ministerium of 
Pennsylvania,’ we are able to glean many interesting events of 
the history of the Frey’s Church, events which otherwise would 
be an absolute blank. The first date in these minutes, referring 
to this church, is 1792, when Mr. August Ritz is appointed ‘‘Cate- 
chist’’? of Schuster’s, Sadler’s, Bleimeier’s, and Frey’s Churches, 
under the supervision of the preacher at Hanover. The ‘‘Cate- 
chist”’ preached and taught, but did not perform any ministerial 
acts. In 1793, Mr. Ritz makes report for the above mentioned 
churches, and Stehli’s in addition. The next year, Mr. Ritz is 
a “Candidate,” and asks to be transferred to other congregations. 
In 1795, Mr. George Graber is appointed ‘‘Catechist” for Frey’s, 
Stehl’s, and Sadler’s. The next year, he reports on his work, but 
is transferred to another field. From 1797 to 1803, we find no 
definite reference to Frey’s Church, yet we know from old receipts 
that the church was undergoing rather extensive repairs, during 
those years. In 1804, ‘‘various congregations in York County”’ 
petitioned that ‘‘Catechist’’ Reiman be licensed as a ‘‘Candidate,”’ 
and it is possible that, for several years prior to this time, he had 
been caring for these congregations. At any rate, he now be- 
comes the “Candidate”? over several churches, which are men- 
tioned in 1806 as: Steltzen’s, Stahley’s, Frey’s, and Salem’s 
(Strayer’s or Dover). He serves these churches until 1807, when 
he removes elsewhere. From 1808 to 1811, we find no report. 

In 1812, ‘“‘the congregations at Stayley’s, Bleimeier’s, Freyen, 
and Flinchbach’s (Lebanon), in York County, called Mr. Johann 
Herbst, Jr., who was granted them, provided he passes his ex- 
amination.’’ He seems to have stood the test, for the next year 
he makes report on these churches, and has two additional churches 
added to his charge, viz., Jerusalem (Fissel’s), and Johannis 
(Sadler’s). 

We must distinguish between Herbst, Sr., and Herbst, Jr. 
We know that Herbst, Sr.,. served several other churches in other 
parts of York County, but we find no record that he ever served 
Frey’s Church. Hence, we have to reckon only with Rev. John 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 529 


Herbst, Jr. In 1812, he comes to the notice of ‘‘Muinisterium”’ 
as an “‘applicant”’ for the ministry. Until 1816, he is each year 
known as “Candidate,” but is now “Ordained” a ‘‘Deacon.”’ 
This title he carries till 1820, when he is advanced from ‘‘Deacon”’ 
to the grade of ‘‘Pastor.”” As ‘‘Candidate” and ‘‘Deacon,” then, 
Rev. John Herbst, Jr., served Frey’s Church, from 1812 to 1819. 
He removed to Gettysburg in 1819. 

At meeting of Ministerium in 1819, ‘“‘A-letter from seven 
congregations in York County, signed by Mr. Herbst, Jr., in which 
they ask for a preacher, and promise him ample support, ” is re- 
ferred to a committee. It was resolved that ‘‘The congregations, 
Kreutz Creek, Schocholy, Stehl’s, and Frey’s be advised to accept 
Pastor Graber as their preacher, and that some other preacher of 
our connection be permitted to accept the remaining congrega- 
tions.’ This resolution, apparently, was not satisfactory, for 
later in the same minutes we find the following: ‘“Mr. Stecher was 
given permission to preach, on his way home, to the congregations 
in York County, which Mr. Herbst resigned, and, in case they 
call him, permission to accept them.” 

Rev. Henry George Stecher now becomes the pastor of these 
churches, and serves them faithfully for a period of ten years. 
However, some adjustments were necessary at the very beginning 
of his pastorate. In 1820, Minutes of Ministerlum, we read: 
‘“‘A letter from Frey’s and Stehli’s congregations in York County, 
in which they ask that the synod may make provision so that 
their congregations might again be supplied with a pastor,’’? was 
referred to a committee, with instructions ‘‘carefully to consider 
the letters from Frey’s and Stehli’s congregations in York County.” 
“The committee which was appointed to consider the circumstances 
of the Frey’s and Stehli’s congregations in York County, report 
as follows: We have the honor to report to the synod that we 
have read the letters of the said congregations and carefully con- 
sidered their contents. We move that the reverend synod advise 
Mr. Stecher to serve said congregations, provided they furnish 
him regular support.” This arrangement seems to have proven 
satisfactory to all parties concerned, and Rey. Stecher accepted 
the call. During his ministry here, he lved at Martinsburg 
(Loganville), from which centrally-located point he served eight 
congregations: Schuster’s, St. Johannis (Sadler’s), Jerusalem 
(Fissel’s), Steltzen’s, Strassburg (Shrewsbury), Stabley’s (Leb- 
anon), Bleimeier’s, and Frey’s (Freysville). He resigned this vast 
field in 1830, to become pastor at Hummelstown, Pa. 

In a statistical report to meeting of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, in October 1830-1831, the following were listed “Vacant 
Congregation: Schuster’s, Fissel’s, Steltzes, Strassburg, Sadler’s, 
Stabley’s, Bleimeier’s, Frey’s.”’ The charge was constituted as 
above until 1832, when Freysville, Bleimeier’s, Stehh’s (St. 
Luke’s), and Sadler’s Churches were cut off from the Shrewsbury 


530 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Charge (‘‘District’’), of which Rev. J. Kaempfer was then pastor. 
These cut-off churches seem to have drifted along for years, and 
had very little service from that time till 1839, when Rev. Peter 
Herrmann began his labors here as regular pastor. In 1840, a 
new charge was formed, consisting of the above named churches. 
In 1842, a new congregation was organized, which erected a church 
building, naming it Salem’s (Paradise). This congregation, the 
same year, was added to the above charge. The name adopted 
for the charge was, ‘““‘The Windsor Charge (District) in York 
County, Pa.” At first, Rev. Herrmann gave Shrewsbury as his 
address, then Cross Roads, and later on Windsor. He served this 
charge until his death, July 7, 1852. 

Up to the time of the organization of the Windsor Charge, 
there seem to have been no rules for the regulation of its congre- 
gations. At all events, on December 26, 18438, representatives of 
the different churches of the charge met at the house of ‘‘Honor- 
able Peter Schmuck” in Windsor Township, York County, Pa., to 
consider the matter of a Formula of Government (“Kirchen 
Ordnung’’). Investigation brought to light the fact that, in 1821, 
early in Rey. Stecher’s pastorate, some of these churches had 
formulated and adopted such aformula. This “Kirchen Ordnung,”’ 
the convention decided, was still suited to their purpose, only it 
had, to all appearance, for some time, been lost sight of. The 
convention, therefore, decided to re-adopt it, and so bring it to 
life again (“Wieder in das Leben zu rufen’’). This was done at 
the time and place stated above. 

Copies of the original ‘‘Kirchen Ordnung,” as well as the re- 
adopted one for the Windsor District, are being preserved in that 
old chest in the Freysville Reformed Church. There is also a 
copy of each edition to be found in the Historical Library, Gettys- 
burg, Pa. 

In 1853, Rev. C. J. Deininger supplied Frey’s, Sadler’s and 
Paradise. But in May, 1853, Rev. J. Kaempfer becomes pastor 
of the Windsor Charge, and for two years makes report to Synod 
for three congregations. He is pastor of this charge until 1861, 
and makes report for four and five congregations. It is probable 
that he was also serving Bleimeier’s and Stehli’s, for he was pastor 
at both places in 1852. He also organized the Dallastown (St. 
Paul’s) Lutheran and Reformed Church, in 1855. 

From 1862 to 1869, Rev. John Conaway was pastor of the 
Windsor Charge, and reports to Synod for five and six congrega- 
tions, except the last year, when he reports for only two. There 
is reported ‘‘Trouble in the Windsor Charge.’’ In 1870, Rev. 
Conaway reports from York. He makes report for seven con- 
eregations. 

In 1871, Rev. Peter Warner became the pastor of what was 
now called the “Dallastown Charge.’”? This Charge was formed 
out of part of the eld Windsor Charge, and recently one of the 


YorK County CONFERENCE 531 


congregations of the Shrewsbury Charge united with it. Rev. 
Warner continued to serve this large parish till the time of his 
death, April 17, 1882. 

On November 1, 1882, Rev. E. Lenhart became pastor of the 
Dallastown Charge, which was now composed of the following 
churches: Dallastown, Freysville, Lebanon, St. James’, St. Luke’s, 
and Blymeier’s. This arrangement continued till November, 
1885, when the charge was divided into the Lebanon Charge, 
comprising Lebanon, St. James’, St. Luke’s; and the new Dallas- 
town Charge, comprising Dallastown, Blymeier’s, Mt. Pleasant, 
and Freysville. Rev. Lenhart resigned; May 17, 1886. On July 
3, 1886, Rev. Charles W. Baker became pastor, and served until 
September 1, 1888, when he resigned to accept a call to Dover. 
In January, 1890, Rev. M. V. Shatto became the pastor. About 
the same time, Sadler’s Church was added to this Charge. In 
1892, Rev. Shatto resigned. He was followed by Rev. A. M. 
Heilman, March 1, 1892, who had just graduated from the Gettys- 
burg Seminary. He labored in this Charge until December 1, 
1894, when he accepted a call to the Shrewsbury Charge. At 
the same time, this charge was again divided. Dallastown and 
Blymeier’s formed one Charge, and Grace Church of Red Lion, 
Freysville, Sadler’s, and Mt Pleasant made up the “Red Lion” 
Charge. This field was supplied by Rev. H. E. Berkey, and other 
students from the Gettysburg Seminary, from December, 1894, 
to June, 1895. On June 1, 1895, Rev. Berkey became the first 
regular pastor. He resigned, January 1, 1901, to accept a call to 
Sharpsburg, Pa. 

In March, 1901, Rev. Ulysses 
E. Apple became pastor. Once 
more this much-divided Charge 
underwent a change. In Octo- 
ber, 1901, Mt. Pleasant and 
Sadler’s congregations withdrew 
from the Charge, and together 
with Felton and Lebanon formed 
the ‘“‘Lebanon Charge.” In No- 
vember, 1901, the councils of 
Grace and Emanuel’s Churches 
met and decided to retain the 
pastor themselves, and to buy 
out the interest in the parsonage 
of the congregations withdrawn 
from the Charge. In 1905, the 
entire indebtedness of the par-_ 
sonage was liquidated amid great Rev. U. E. Appie 
rejoicing. 

On February 18, 1909, a most important change was con- 
summated in the history of the Freysville Church. For 138 years, 











Doe History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the Lutherans had their interests combined in a “Union Church.” 
On the above date, they sold out their rights and interests, ex- 
clusive of the cemetery, to the Reformed congregation, for $2900. 
The Lutheran Church, having been the first religious organization 
in the community, it was unanimously agreed to retain the original 
name ‘‘Emanuel,”’ and to make the title of the church, “Emanuel 
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Freysville, Pa.” 

On April 2, 1909, the Lutheran congregation withdrew from 
the “Union Church Building,” and secured the Evangelical 
Church for use on Sunday afternoons, until such time as their 
church should be ready for occupancy. On the old location, the 
Reformed congregation erected a beautiful brick church, and 
dedicated it, May 1, 1910. 





EMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, FREYSVILLE, PA. 


The Lutheran congregation decided to locate their new church 
on the tract of land, near the site of the original church, erected 
in 1771. This property, long known as the ‘‘Fox Farm,” was at 
this time owned by Horace Welty and Jacob A. Stein, prominent 
members of the Lutheran Church. One acre of this tract, lo- 
cated at the south-west corner of the cross-roads, was generously 
donated by the owners, to be used for church building and parson- 
age purposes. 

At the above location, the Lutheran congregation erected a 
very fine modern brick church. On the front corner is a suitable 
tower, in which is placed a sweet-toned church bell. As you enter 
the tower, a door to the left enters a ‘“Chapel’’ or Sunday School 


YorK County CONFERENCE 533 


Room, which will seat about 100. Another door leads from the 
tower into the Auditorium. Another entrance is fixed at the 
other end of the Chapel. The two rooms connect with wooden 
roller partitions. The Auditorium presents a very churchly ap- 
pearance. The pews are in circular form, the floor is carpeted, 
altar stands in alcove at the further end of the building, lectern, 
pulpit, and organ are on a raised platform, windows are beautiful 
art glass, with emblems and figures, Seating capacity is about 
300. Under the whole building is a large basement, finished and 
equipped for social and other purposes. The church has steam 
heat and electric lights throughout. The entire cost was about 
$15,500. It was dedicated, free of all indebtedness, on May 29, 
1910, by the pastor, Rev. Ulysses E. Apple. Sermons were 
preached by Revs. N.S. Wolf, Dr. G. W. Enders, and Rev. Harry 
D. Newcomer. It was a great day for Lutheranism at Freysville. 


On September 1, 1918, Rev. Apple resigned, to accept a call 
to Trindle Springs, Pa. On October 1, 1918, Rev. C. F. V. Hesse 
became pastor. On December 1, 1922, Rev. Hesse resigned, to 
accept a call to the new St. Paul’s Charge, composed of the Salem’s 
and Wolf’s Congregations. 


On April 18, 1922, the Freysville interests in the Parsonage 
at Red Lion were purchased by the Grace Lutheran Church, Red 
Lion. The terms of the transaction were as follows: ‘Emanuel 
Church, Freysville, accepted as full payment for their interests 
in the Red Lion property a note for two thousand dollars, said 
note to be non-interest bearing and non-collectable, as long as the 
charge remains constituted as at present, and as long as Grace 
Lutheran Church provides a suitable parsonage.” 


On May 1, 1923, Rev. Jerome M. Guss, D. D., became 
pastor, and serves to the present time. He has collected the data 
for this history. 


Since the adoption of the new charter in 1909, the following 
are the names of those who have served, at various times, on the 
Church Council: J. 5. Douglas, John Peeling, Jacob A. Stein, 
V. T. Blouse, John Hunt, Benjamin Emenheiser, O. 8. Love, 
Benjamin F. Stump, Wm. E. Wilson, Ira Riale, Geo. Ritz, J. W. 
Stine, John H. Ferree, Henry J. Smith, Emanuel Lentz. 


Owing to limited surroundings in a rural community, this 
church has never been able to develop a very large membership, 
but it has nurtured many noble sons and daughters, who have 
adorned our Lutheran culture and faith, in this and other Luth- 
eran churches round about. The “Fox Farm’? was the boyhood 
home of Mr. Albert F. Fox, Washington, D.C., since prom- 
inent as a member of the Board of Home Missions, Director of 
the Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa., etc. One of the 
sons of this congregation has entered the Lutheran Ministry, 


534. History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rev. Curvin H. Stein, son of 
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob A.Stein. Rev. 
Stein is at present the pastor of 
the Lutheran Church at Lock 
Haven, Pa. Another, who grew 
upin St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 
moved to Freysville, and was a 
member of this church when he 
became a Lutheran Minister, 
Rev. B. C. Ritz, now pastor of St. 
James’ Lutheran Church, York, 
Pa. Along religious lines, this 
church has exerted an influence 
greater, out of all proportions, 
than its numercial size would in- 
dicate. Inthe community, it has 
always taken a leading part, 
Rev. Curvin H. STEIN standing for an elevating, refin- 
ing, educational influence, as well 
as for genuine Christianity. For over one hundred and fifty 
years, it has been a noble institution, giving to the world noted 
educators and professional men and women, and leaders in every 
walk of life. It has been injecting the leaven of the pure Gospel 
into the lives of many gencrations, which have been going forth 
as a veritable benediction into the community, and throughout 
the world. 
The present baptized membership of this church is 101. 
The Sunday School enrolls over 100. The annual expenditures 
are over $1000. 





GRACE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
RED LION, PA. 
(Red Lion Charge) 


Rv. J. M. Guss, D. D., PAstor 


This Church is the ‘‘First Fruits’? of the York County Mis- 
sionary Committee’s Work, under the direction of the York County 
Conference of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 

At a meeting of the Lutheran Minister’s Association of York 
and vicinity, the subject of establishing new points in different 
parts of York County was discussed, and it was decided to look 
up some of the promising places. Rev. A. .M. Heilman, then 
pastor at Dallastown, was appointed to look up the interests of 
Red Lion. He reported favorably. Then, in the fall of 1893, 
the York County Conference appointed a standing ‘Missionary 


YorRK County CONFERENCE Doo 


Committee.”’ This Committee made a further investigation of 
Red Lion, and agreed that this place should have preaching. Rey. 
A. M. Heilman preached here occasionally during the winter of 
1893-94, as did also some of the students of the Lutheran Theo- 
logical Seminary of Gettysburg. 

The services were held in the Pavilion in ‘‘Fairview”’ (some- 
times called ‘“‘Fairmont’’) Park. A committee, consisting of Rev. 
Peter Livingston, G. W. Enders. D. D., Jere Carl, Esq., and 





GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH, RED Lion, PA. 


Edward Helb, Esq., visited the field and selected a lot, worth 
$500. This lot was very generously donated by Mrs. Catharine 
Meyer. The lot was deeded to the Board of Church Extension. 
A Building Committee of three was appointed as follows: Fred- 
erick A. Schoaff, Jacob A. Miller, and John W. Burger. Under 
their management, the building of the Lutheran Church was be- 
gun, during the summer of 1894. 

The Conference Committee appointed W. H. Ehrhart, a 


536 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


student of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa., 
to look after the new station. He took charge of the work, 
June 10, 1894. 


On the same day (June 10), the Corner Stone of the new 
church was laid. The services were held in Fairview (Fairmont) 
Park. About five hundred people were present. Rev. W. 8. 
Freas, D. D., preached the sermon, and Rev. G. W. Enders, D. D., 
made the appeal for contributions. A liberal offering was re- 
ceived. After the services in the Park, the congregation pro- 
eeeded to the site of the new church, corner N. Charles and W. 
High Streets, where Rev. A. M. Heilman laid the Corner Stone. 
The Doxology was then sung, and Rev. Peter Livingston pro- 
nounced the Benediction. 

Student Earhart, after laboring in the field about a month, 
effected an organization, consisting of sixteen Charter Members: 
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Burger, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Free, Mr. 
and Mrs. Chas. E. Hess, Mr. Chas. E. Mayes, Mrs. Catharine 
Meyer, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob A. Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick A. 
Schoaff, Miss Belle Shenberger, Mr. Harry E. Snyder, Mr. and 
Mrs. Samuel A. Stump. 


These persons met, on the evening of July 10, 1894, at the 
home of Mrs. Catharine Meyer, for the purpose of organizing, 
and electing officers. The Officers chosen were: Elders, Chas. E. 
Hess and Samuel Free; Deacons, Harry E. Snyder and F. A. 
Schoaff. Rev. A. M. Heilman was present and assisted in the 
organization, and installed the officers. 


On January 26, 1895, application was made for a Charter for 
the new organization, to be known as “‘Grace Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of Red Lion, Pa.’’ The Charter was granted February 
18, of the same year. 


On March 17, 1895, Rev. H. E. Berkey, one of the students 
of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, who had 
been. supplying the charge at intervals since December, 1894, 
preached the first sermon that was ever preached in this church, 
and was elected its first regular pastor. He continued to supply 
it at intervals until June 1, 1895, when, having graduated from 
the Seminary, he took full charge of the work. 


The Charge, of which Grace Church was now a part, had 
been formed about December 1, 1894, when Rev. A. M. Heilman 
resigned the Dallastown Charge. That Charge was then divided, 
Dallastown and Bleymeyer’s forming a Charge, and the remaining 
churches, Freysville, Mt. Pleasant, Sadler’s, and the new Grace 
Church of Red Lion, forming a new Charge, which was known as 
“The Red Lion Charge.” ‘To this new Charge, Rev. Berkey was 
called, and began his work as stated above June 1, 1895. 

At this time, the church building, though begun in 1894, 
was not yet completed. It was found necessary to take legal 





YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE Hat 


steps to compel the manufacturers of the pews to live up to their 
contract. This they finally did about the close of 1895. 

In order to be reasonably sure of good weather for the Dedi- 
cation, it was decided to postpone that service, until the next 
spring. Accordingly, on May 24, 1896, the church was dedicated. 
The entire cost, including the lot, was $4819.12. The architect 
was J. A. Dempwolf. Rev. H. H. Weber, D. D., General Secretary 
of the Board of Church Extension, and Rev. Prof. J. W. Richard, 
D. D., Gettysburg Seminary, preached the sermons, and the pas- 
tor, Rev. H. E. Berkey, read the Dedicatory Service. 

During the summer of 1895, efforts were made, which finally 
resulted in the building of a neat and commodious parsonage, 
adjoining the church. As.it was felt that the funds would not 
warrant the employment of an architect, the pastor drew the 
plans and superintended the construction of all the buildings. On 
October 17, 1895, while the pastor was attending Synod in session 
in Zion Lutheran Church, York, the parsonage was begun. The 
pastor’s wife, and Mrs. Rev. W. G. Slifer, and Miss Rose Pitzer 
of Gettysburg, removed the first ground for the foundation. The 
house was completed and occupied, March 27, 1896. The cost 
of all the buildings, including the lot, was about $1750. Horace 
Welty, who also built the church, was the builder. 

Though the church had been organized in 1894, no Constitu- 
tion was adopted until October 14, 1895. Then, at a regularly 
called congregational meeting, the Constitution was adopted. At 
the same time, action was taken looking to the admission of this 
Congregation into the West Pennsylvania Synod. This applica- 
tion was granted, at the Synod’s meeting in York, a few days later. 

A Sunday School, numbering 70, was organized, April 1, 
1895, with J. A. Miller as Superintendent, G. D. Burger as Secre- 
tary, and Mrs. J. A. Miller as Superintendent of the “Infant 
Department.” 

In 1895, the first Choir was organized by Professor E. C. 
Ruby, then Principal of the Red Lion Schools, and a member of 
this congregation. Professor Ruby was leader and Mrs. Berkey 
organist. Later Professor Ruby entered the Lutheran ministry, 
and is now pastor of the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, York, Pa. 

A Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor was or- 
ganized in 1895. Several years later, a Junior Society was organ- 
ized. In January, 1898, a Home Department of 31 members was 
launched. During the winter of 1899-1900, the Cradle Roll was 
organized. In May, 1900, the Helper’s Association was organized. 

This pastorate marks the period of feeble beginnings, the 
times of ground-breaking and foundation-laying. The small 
number of members, and the scarcity of funds, made advance- 
ment slow and often very discouraging. Rev. Berkey closed his 
labors as pastor of this church, and began his work as pastor of 
the First English Church of Sharpsburg, Pa., January 1, 1901. 


538 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Rev. Ulysses E. Apple was called to this pastorate, in Jan- 
uary, 1901, and began his labors in this field, April 1, 1901. To 
the credit of this charge, let it be known that they did not resort 
to the questionable method of hearing candidates in order to 
secure a pastor. Pastor Apple was installed, December 8, 1901. 

In September, 1901, the Mt. Pleasant and Sadler’s congrega- 
tions voted to withdraw from the Red Lion Charge, and together 
with the Felton and Lebanon congregations form the “Lebanon 
Charge.” This action was ratified by Synod in October, 1901, and 
immediately the congregations withdrew and called Rev. G. A. 
Livingston as pastor. This arrangement constituted the Grace 
Church of Red Lion, and Emanuel Church of Freysville, as “The 
Red Lion Charge.” At this time, ‘‘Grace Church, Red Lion, was 
financially embarassed, its members disheartered, and many in- 
different and scattered. It was believed that the only way to 
preserve this congregation was for the pastor to concentrate his 
efforts upon this field.” The great wisdom of this move is seen 
in the slow, but steady, growth and development of this church. 
The people rallied about their new pastor with commendable zeal 
and loyalty, and in less than two years all debts were liquidated, 
and mortgages were burned amid great rejoicing, September 13, 


During the next few years many needed improvements were 
made about the church and parsonage, and all costs were prompt- 
ly paid. 

During 1918-14, the Sunday School became so large that the 
Primary Department had to be transferred to the parsonage. 
Enlargement became necessary. There were added four class 
rooms, a basement, kitchen, toilets, parsonage porch, and coat of 
paint. A new pipe-organ was also installed. Entire cost of all 
these improvements was over $6000, and all necessary funds were 
quickly raised. The new building and organ were dedicated, on 
November 22, 1914, Dr. Weber preaching the sermon. 

After a long and fruitful pastorate of almost eighteen years, 
Rey. Apple tendered his resignation, September 1, 1918, in order 
to accept a call to the Trindle Springs Charge, Mechanicsburg, Pa. 

The patient and self-sacrificing labors of Rev. Apple, in the 
Red Lion pastorate, had made a strong and ineffaceable impress 
upon the church and entire community. It covered the period 
of seed-sowing, hopeful-waiting, readjustments, and many dis- 
couragements. Nevertheless, it was a season of substantial up- 
building, cementing and solidifying of the numerical and material 
resources of the congregation. 

On October 1, 1918, Rev. C. F. V. Hesse became the third 
regular pastor. 

Many improvements were made about the church, at a cost 
of about $950. On January 4, 1920, a Building Fund was es- 
tablished, which by October 30, 1922, amounted to about $8,000. 


YorRK CouNtTY CONFERENCE 539 


On April 18, 1922, Mr. and Mrs. George Fertner offered to the 
church a gift of a fifty foot lot, on North Charles Street, opposite 
the church, a parsonage to be erected thereon. Later, Mr. 
Fertner agreed to build a house on the lot and rent it to the con- 
eregation for a parsonage. On August 20, 1922, the trustees and 
council agreed to purchase the house, which was then under 
construction, and to accept the lot as a gift. In 1923, the fine 
new parsonage was completed. A garage was also built on the 
rear of the lot. The entire value of this property 1s now about 
$12,500. 


On April 18, 1922, the Freysville interests in the Red Lion 
parsonage were purchased by Grace Church, subject to certain 
conditions. 

On November 5, 1922, the lower story of the old parsonage 
was occupied by the younger grades of the rapidly growing Sun- 
day School. The upper story was converted into an apartment, 
which is now being used by the sexton of the church. 


The pastorate of Rev. Hesse in Red Lion is marked with 
many stirring events. Revenues were increased, many new mem- 
bers were added to the church, Women’s Missionary Societies 
were revived, new parsonage property was secured. On De- 
cember 1, 1922, Rev. Hesse resigned this field, in order to accept 
a call to the new St. Paul’s Charge of the York County Conference, 
a charge composed of Salem’s and Wolf’s congregations. 


On May 1, 1923, Rev. Jerome M. Guss, D. D., became the 
fourth regular pastor. On May 6, 1923, installation services were 
held, Rev. William H. Feldman, D. D., delivering the charge to 
the pastor, and Rev. Ulysses E. Apple addressing the congregation. 
Dr. Guss has compiled this history. 


The following have served as officers of Grace Church, at 
various times, since its organization: Charles E. Hess, Samuel 
Free, Frederick A. Schoaff, Harry E. Snyder, J. Samuel Blouse, 
ADB a phatto, M.°D.,.C) 8. LaMotte; J. A. Miller, B. Fy Raab, 
Emanuel Stabley, Henry L. Cramer, Daniel E. Spangler, R. A. 
Lentz, Jacob K. Kohler, H. W. Etter, George W. Riale, Reuben 
Spangler, Charles W. Moody, J. A. Gillen, John C. Warner, 
Charles A. Lentz, Wm. F. Boeckel, G. A. Strobeck, Jacob Wakely, 
J. Harvey Gemmill, Adam Flinchbaugh, GeorgeSchoen, J. Thomas 
Grove, Henry B. Tyson, Wallace M. Gemmill, Jacob Streavig, 
J. Benton Warner, Willis W. Stauffer, Emory E. Saylor, A. H. 
Uffelman, George Fertner, Harvey M. Keeny, Elmer E. Tyson, 
Dr. Otto Strock, Roy Seaks, Ervin McCleary. 


540 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 





Rev. E. MARTIN GROVE 


Grace Church is giving her 
sons to the Lutheran ministry. 
Rev. E. Martin Grove, at pres- 
ent pastor of Bethlehem Luth- 
eran Church, Harrisburo eee 
is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. 
Martin Grove. Walter D. Guss, 
pastor of the Lutheran Church 
at Delaware Gardens, N. J., 
is the son of Pastor and Mrs. 
Guss. George J. Curran, a stu- 
dent for the ministry, now in 
Gettysburg College, is a son of 
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Curran, 
who while members of St. James’ 
Church gave two other sons to 
the ministry, Rev. J. D. Curran, 
Missionary in Africa, and Rev. 
A. C. Curran, of the Allegheny 


Synod. Several other sons in other families are contemplating 


the ministry. Many children of 
this church are attending col- 
leges, and other higher institu- 
tions of learning. 

Every department of this 
church is well organized and in 
a flourishing condition. The Sun- 
day School, under the capable 
Superintendency of Willis W. 
Stauffer, enrolls 600 teachers and 
scholars. There is a confirmed 
membership of 360. A building 
fund is growing rapidly toward 
$15,000. A new church is fast 
becoming a necessity. There is 
said to be sufficient wealth among 
the membership to give it a 
rating near the million dollar 
mark. Harmony prevails among 








Rev. WALTER D. Guss 


the members, and there is promise of a bright and glorious future. 


FILEY’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Rossville Charge) 


Rev. F. D. Surron, Pastor 


The Lutheran and Reformed Church known as “Filey’s 
Church’? was named in honor of the person who donated the 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 541 


ground. ‘This church was organized about 1800. The first build- 
ing was of logs, and served as a school and chureh and school. 
It had two rows of desks along the side walls, facing the center 
desks. The pulpit was a concavo-convex, or like a goblet cut 
through the center, it being usually called the ‘‘bird cage.” 

In 1838 it was thought advisable to erect a brick church 
building of modern architecture. The members of both denomi- 
nations elected a building committee, two of each denomination, 
to erect a union church. The building committee was composed 
of Jacob Hartman, Jacob Coover, and Jacob Heikes. The corner- 
stone was laid August 20, 1838, and the church was dedicated 
the same year. Since 1838, the two congregations have been 
served by the following pastors: Revs. Kempfer, Focht, Rightmyer, 
Bricker, Dasher, Seifert, Winton, Dietrich, Heilman, Day, Minter, 
Stump, Ehrhard, Smith, Wiles, Helfrick and Kale. In 1907 Rev. 
H. A. Althouse was pastor of the Reformed congregation and 
Rev. George Eveler of the Lutheran congregation. (From George 
E. Prowell’s History of York County.) The present pastor is Rev. 
F. D. Sutton, who began his work during the year 1925. 


ROHLER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH; YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Rossville Charge) 


Rev. F. D. Surron, Pastor 





KoOHLER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co. 


Rohler’s Evangelical Lutheran Church is situated in Dover 
Township, York County, being part of the Rossville Charge. 
This congregation held services in an old school house at Rohler’s 


542 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


from the year 1856 to 1870. On December 1, 1869, it was agreed 
to erect a Lutheran church about one-half mile away from the 
old school house at the cross roads. 

The corner stone was laid June 26, 1870, by Rev. Henry 
Seifert. Rev. A. W. Lilly preached in the morning on the text, 
Isa. 28:16; and Rev. 8. Dasher, in the afternoon, on the text, 
Col. 3:11. The collections on this day amounted to $50.00. 

The first service was held in the new church on September 
20, 1870. The Building Committee was: Daniel Snelbaker and 
Joseph Berkheimer. The elders were Andrew Benedict and Nich- 
olas Wentz; deacons, Daniel Snelbaker and Elijah Glatfelter. 
Rev. Henry Seifert was pastor. 

The following pastors have served: Rev. D. Sell, 1856-57; 
Rev. J. R. Focht, 1857-58; Rev. 8. Dasher, 1859-65; Rev. M. F. 
Pfahler, 1865-67; Rev. P. Vanner, 1867-69; Rev. Henry Seifert, 
1869-72; Rev. J. Conoway, 1872-73; Rev. M. Studebaker, 1873- 
74; Rev. H. B. Winton, 1874-76; Rev. Henry F. Dietterich, 
1876-78; Rev. E. Minter, 1878-81; Rev. Dr. Adam Stump, 1881- 
84; Rev. A. B. Erhart, 1884-87; Rev. H. A. Dietterich, 1887-90; 
Rev. R. Smith, 1890-94; Vacant, 1895-96; Rev. Chas. P. Wiles, 
1896-1901; Rev. J. E. Zorger, 1901-03; Rev. Geo. H. Eveler, 1904- 
10; Rev. H. T. Bowersox, 1911-16; Rev. C. M. Coffelt, 1916-20; 
Rev. H. O. Harner, 1920-23; Vacant, 1923-25; Rev. F. D. Sutton, 
1925-——. 

The same building that was built in 1870 is now standing. 
It has been remodeled several times. Preaching services are held 
every two weeks. Its membership now is about 42. Sunday 
School is held every Sunday, with 100 members enrolled. 





ST. MICHAEL'S LULIHERAN® CHURGHSYWORK (CORE as 
(Rossville Charge) 


REevV.E. Do Surrony BASTOR 


The Union Church of the Lutheran and Reformed, and other 
denominations near Rossville, was built in 1819. It was dedi- 
eated June 11, 1820. The officiating clergymen were J. G. 
Schmucker, D. D., J. McKnight, D. D., and Rev. Ebaugh. The 
old building was removed about 1880. 

The Lutherans numbering about 200, thought it would be 
to their advantage to have a building of their own. <A meeting 
was called by the Rev. James Harkey, in 1848, when it was agreed 
to build a church. <A building committee was chosen which was 
composed of D. Hobaugh, T. T. Gardner, W. Bushy, J. Bushy, 
and J. Drawbaugh. Mr. Gardner donated the Lutheran con- 
eregation one acre of ground to build the church. The work of 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 5A3 


building began in the summer of 1849. The cornerstone was laid 
September 29, 1849, by Rev. James Harkey, assisted by Rev. 
Keller and §. Har key, and was dedicated in the winter of the same 
year. The following ministers have served as regular pastors: 
Revs. James Harkey, J. P. Focht, A. Finfrock, Daniel Sell, J. K. 
Bricker, 8. Dasher, H. Seifert, J. F. Dietrich, E. Minter, A. 
Stump, A. B. Erhard, C. P. Wiles and Smith. (From George 
Prowell’s History of York County.) Rev. George H. Eveler was 
the predecessor of Rey. F. D. Sutton, who is serving the charge 
at the present time. 





REV JS HeHEGE 
PASTOR OF THE SALEM CHARGE 


Rev. J. H. Hege is the son of 
Daniel and Mary F. Hege. Huis 
ancestors were of German blood 
and came to this country in 
1682 under William Penn. He 
was born in Greencastle, Frank- 
lin County, Pa., March 17, 1886, 
being the fourth of a family of 
seven children. At the age of 
seven years his parents removed 
to a farm near Williamson, 
Franklin County, Pa., where all 
the children were reared. He 
attended school at Williamson. 
During the other seasons he 
worked on the home and _ sur- 
rounding farms. United with 
Stevluike s* Lutheran @hurch, 
Williamson, November 17, 1902, 
by baptism. 

He taught school in his native township (St. Thomas) from 
1903-1907; entered Mercersburg Academy in the fall of 1907. He 
went to Gettysburg College in the fall of 1909 and was graduated 
with his class in 1913. He entered the Lutheran Theological Semi- 
nary at Gettysburg in 1913 and was graduated in 1916. He received 
and accepted a call to become the pastor of Salem’s Lutheran 
Charge of Dover, York County, Pa. He took up the active 
duties of pastor June 1, 1916, succeeding the beloved Rev. A. G. 
Fastnacht, D. D. 

He was ordained as a Minister of the Gospel by the West 
Pennsylvania Synod in Memoria! Lutheran Church, Shippens- 
burg, October 12, 1916. 





544 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


On May 20, 1916, Rev. Hege was united in marriage with 
Miss Bertha A. Weagley, of Upton, Franklin County, Pa. To 
this union a son, John Henry, was born. ‘The joy was soon turned 
into deep sorrow for on June 9, 1917, the young wife was called 
from this life to enter upon a more blessed life. She was laid to 
rest June 13, 1917, in the beautiful Cedar Hill Cemetery near 
Greencastle, Pa. 

He married Miss Grace EK. Bushy of East Berlin, Adams 
County, Pa., January 30, 1919. To this union two children, 
Franklin Bushy and Grace Louise, were born. 


CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Salem Charge) 


Rives ce leer ken0.R 


Calvary Lutheran chureh 
was begun and completed 
under the authority and 
euidance of the Missionary 
Committee of the York 
County Conference and the 
Board of Trustees appoint- 
ed by the Court of York 
County. 

The first effort for a Luth- 
eran Church in Dover was 
made December 12, 1893. 

The first meeting by the 
citizens of Dover concern- 
ing the Church was held 
December 6, 1897. The 
lot was donated by Mrs. D. 
Sell, January, 1899. The 
ground was broken June 
24, 1899. The cornerstone 
was laid September 10, 
1899. . 

A Woman’s Aid Society 
CatvAry LUTHERAN CHURCH was organized April 5, 1900. 

York Co., Pa. The Luther League (now 
Christian Endeavor Society) 





was organized August 16, 1900. 
The first sermon was preached by Rev. J. M. Deitzler, No- 
vember 11, 1900. The choir was organized November 24, 1900. 


YorkK County CONFERENCE 545 


The bell was donated by Samuel B. Wallace. The clock was 
purchased and put in place by the Dover citizens. 

The church property, not including clock, represents an 
actual cost of about $8,000. 

The church was dedicated December 16, 1900. At the 
prededicatory services the following program was carried out: 
Sunday, December 9, ‘Our Gift to God”; Joseph H. Keller; 
Monday, December 10, ‘‘The Foundation,’ Rev. T. B. Thomas; 
Tuesday, December 11, ‘‘The Superstructure,”’ Rev. F. 5S. Geesey; 
Wednesday, December 12, “The Tower,’ Rev. Adam Stump; 
Thursday, December 13, ‘“The Bell,’’ Rev. H. C. Bixler; Friday, 
December 14, ‘‘The Church Complete,” Rev. A. M. Heilman; 
Saturday, December 15, ‘‘Entering the Courts of the Lord,’ M. 
L. Enders; Sunday Evening, December 16, Sermon, Rev. T. C. 
Billhemer, D. D. 

Mr. Joseph H. Keller, a student from the Lutheran Theo- 
logical Seminary, Was in active charge of the work until dedication. 
Rev. J. M. Deitzler from dedication until July 1, 1905. Rev. A. 
G. Fastnacht served from July 5, 1905—June 1, 1916. Rev. J. 
H. Hege served from June 1, 1916. 





SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK COUNTY, PA. 
(Salem Charge) 


REVa dee EEGE erAsSTOR 





SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., Pa. 


Salem’s, also familiarly called Strayer’s, Church is situated 
one mile southwest of Dover. The situation is all that could be 


546 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


desired for a rural church. The present is the third church build- 
ing since the formation of the congregation. 

The first German settlers took up the land in this vicinity 
about 1736. On May 30, 1754, the following members of the 
German Lutheran and German Reformed denominations agreed 
to form a church: Peter Strayer, Jacob Hoffman, Daniel Messerle, 
Martin Reissinger, Philip Jacob Ob, George Lechner, George 
Michael Kan, Peter Ob, Nicolaus Herman, Adam Barthness, Hans 
George Spaar, Joseph Klipper, John Heinrich Deuis, Michel Spaar, 
Hans George Stauch, Deiterich Danner, Andreas Gross, Valentin 
Flohr, Christofel Kobbel, Lonhardt Schederon, Heinrich Schederon, 
Johannes Zin, George Herbold, Jacob Bab, Heinrich Rahauser, 
Jacob Kirstler, Bernhard Muller, Jacob Majer, Michael Burckel, 
Jacob Kumel, Jacob Lampert. 

The first church, which was built of logs, stood west of the 
present building, in what is now known as the old church burying 
ground. The land, which consists of about three acres, was pur- 
chased from the corners of the plantations owned by Peter Streher, 
Jacob Lenhart and Peter Upp.—‘‘Church Book and Protocol of 
the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of the Unaltered Augs- 
burg Confession located in Dover Township, York County be- 
yond the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, containing 

“T. The Church property, received by gift and purchase by 
the congregation, and Alms. 

“TT. The family register of the members of the congregation 
and its pastors. 

“TIT. Register of Baptisms, names of baptized, parents and 
sponsors. 

“TV. <A list of the Confirmants, and their first communion. 

“V. List of those regularly joined in marriage. 

“VI. A register of those who died and were honorably buried. 

‘Also an alphabetical list of the names recorded in this Church 
Record beginning with the year of Christ’s glorious birth 1763. 

by me, 
“Lucas Raus, regularly called Pastor of the Congregation”’ 
(Translated from the original.) 

The first confirmation services were held November 7, 1762, 
at which time George Adam Oberdier, Susanna Oberdier, Margaret 
Gensart, Mary Barabra Gensart and Catrina Burgart were re- 
ceived into full church membership. 

In the old church graveyard, or burying ground, there lie the 
remains of about 3000 people. There is the Lenhart (later called 
the Gerber) Cemetery a short distance southeast of the church. 
Adjoining this cemetery on the southeast is what is known as the 
Lieberknecht Cemetery. In the fall of the year 1916 Salem’s 
Church purchased a fine 12 acre plat of ground a short distance 
northwest of the church and laid it out for a church cemetery. 
This cemetery has a perpetual sinking fund the interest of which is 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 547 


to be used in keeping the cemetery clean and in good condition. 

In the year 1824 the congregation applied for and received 
a charter. The Governor’s order for enrollment was attached 
June 15, 1824. 

“Article I. Peter Streher, Frederick Stough, Peter Lecron, 
John Sheffer (of whom Peter Streher is President), present Elders; 
Nicholas Hoffman and John Hantz, present Church Wardens of 
the Lutheran Congregation; John Lauer, Jacob Zinn, Christian 
Hamm, William Caldwell (of Whom John Lauer is President), 
present Elders; Jacob March and Jacob Kann, present Church 
Wardens of the Reformed Congregation aforesaid: being citizens 
of said State, and their respective successors duly elected and ap- 
pointed, and hereinafter directed, are hereby declared to be a cor- 
poration or body politic in law for religious purposes, to have 
continuance forever hereafter by the name, style and title of 
Salem’s Church.” 

After a vote favorable to the organization of a Sunday School 
in Salem’s Church, at elections held respectively by the Reformed 
and Lutheran Congregations at the spring communions, April 28, 
1912, by the Reformed Congregation, and on May 12 and 19, 1912, 
by the Lutheran Congregation, the joint council ordered the or- 
ganization of a Sunday School at 3 P. M. June 12, 1912. The 
Sunday School is in a very flourishing condition. 

A union Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society was 
organized in December, 1912. The first meeting was held in 
January, 1913. This society is doing splendid work. 

The church, built in 1854, is steam heated and lighted with 
electricity. During the winter of 1919-20 the church was improved 
and beautified at a cost of $7000.00, which has been paid in full. 
The church was rededicated May 9, 1920. The pastor was as- 
sisted by the Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, D. D. , In the morning service. 
The afternoon service Was in charge of Rev. O. P. Shellhamer 
(Reformed) assisted by Rev. J. Kern McKee, of York, Pa. 

The following pastors have served the congregation: Rev. 
Lucas Raus, from organization, May 30, 1754, to 1776; Rev. Jacob 
Goehring, 1776-1783; Rev. Nicholas Kurtz; Rev. John Groop; 
Rey. Andreas Gottlob Deininger, 1835—October 1, 1879; Rev. D. 
Sell, October 1, 1879—March 16, 1888; Rev. Charles Witmer 
Baker, September 1, 1888—February 3, 1890; Rev. J. C. Mumma, 
June 1, 1890—March 1, 1895; Rev. J. M. Deitzler, June 2, 1895— 
July 1, 1905; Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, D. D., supplied from July 5 
1905—April 1, 1906, and was elected regular pastor April 1, 1906, 
—June 1, 1916; Rev. J. H. Hege, June 1, 1916,—. 


548 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ST PAUL’S LUTHERAN, CHURCH, YORK COUNTY Wr 
(Salem Charge) 


Rev... Hees, fAsror 





ST? Paur Ss LUTHERAN); CHURCH YORK) COm EA: 


St. Paul’s Lutheran and Reformed Church is also called Red 
Run, from the name of a small stream of water which flows nearby 
the Church, and Sower’s Church because of the activity of the 
Sower’s family in the building of the church. 

The corner stone was laid April 12, 1844, by Revs. Peter 
Scheurer and John EH. Albert. It was dedicated October 5 and 
6th, 1844, on which occasion Revs. Ziegler, Sechler, Sheurer and 
Albert assisted. The sermon of dedication was preached on Sun- 
day morning October 6, 1844, by Rev. Jacob Sechler using as his 
text Genesis 28:16. 

The building committee was composed of George Sowers and 
John Shive, Lutheran and John W. Smith, Reformed. 

The first Lutheran Vestry: Elder, John Leib; Deacons, 
Jacob Emig and Solomon Gross. 

Reformed: Elder, Christopher Gerber; Deacons, George 
Spangler and Peter Reiver. 

Pastors: Rev. Peter Sheurer, 1844-1857; Rev. A. G. Deininger, 
1857---October 1, 1879; Rev. D. Sell, October 1, 1879—March 16, 
1888; Rev. C. W. Baker, September 1, 1888— February Oo; 1890: 
Rev. J. C. Mumma, June ie SOO =e March 1,,1895; Revi, Jah. 
Deitzler, June 2, 1895—July 1, 1905; Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, D. 
D., supplied July 5, 1905—April 1, 1906; served as regular pastor, 
April 1, 1906— June OL Os Rev. J. H. Hege, June lO los 

The original building of red sand-stone is still standing. In 
1911 there was an annex Duilt to the Church. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 549 
REV. SILAS HARMAN CULLER 


PASTOR OF THE SEVEN VALLEYS CHARGE 


Rev. Culler was born October 
14, 1875, on a farm near Jeffer- 
son, Maryland, the son of J. 
Harman and Lucinda C. Culler. 
He was baptized by Rev. Bowers 
and confirmed by Rev. 8S. A. 
Hedges in St. Paul’s Lutheran 
Church at Jefferson, Maryland, 
in April, 1888. He attended the 
local public schools until be was 
sixteen years old when he took 
charge of a farm belonging to a 
sister, Whose husband was killed 
in an accident. There he re- 
mained until the fall of 1896 
when he entered the Preparatory 
Department of Pennsylvania Col- 
lege at Gettysburg, taking a two- 
vear course. He graduated from 
college in 1902 and the following fall entered the Theological Sem- 
inary and graduated from this institution in 1905. In January of 
that year while in seminary he accepted a call to Trinity Lutheran 
Church, Reisterstown, Maryland, to assume charge upon his 
eraduation from seminary in May. He was licensed to preach by 
the Maryland Synod at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Martinsburg, 
West Virginia, October, 1904, and ordained October, 1905, in St. 
Paul’s Lutheran Church, Cumberland, Maryland. 

He remained in the Reisterstown pastorate for thirteen years, 
during which time a new church was built at an approximate 
cost of $16,000. The membership was also doubled and the 
church finances and polity improved. In March, 1918, he ac- 
cepted a call to the Seven Valleys Charge of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod. On April 10, 1918, he was married to Grace Fleming 
Russell, of Reisterstown, Maryland. During his present pastor- 
ate at Seven Valleys the membership has been increased, old debts 
liquidated, extensive improvements made and new hymnal in- 
stalled. During his ministry he has contributed several articles 
to the Lutheran Observer, the most important one was entitled, 
“Lutheran Hymnology.”’ 





550 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


FRIEDENSAAL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD 
TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, PA. 


(Seven Valleys Charge) 


Rev. Sitras H. Cuter, PASTOR 





FRIEDENSAAL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


Friedensaal’s Church, formerly known as Schuster’s is one of 
the land-marks of early Lutheranism in York County, the first 
German settlers in this region having constituted the original 
membership. The exact date of its organization is uncertain. It 
is probable that the nucleus of an unincorporated congregation 
was formed about 1752, as the oldest available account of minis- 
terial acts records a baptism administered on May 23, 1752. The 
ministers’ names are not recorded, hence the earliest pastors are 
matters of conjecture. During that period, Schuster’s was de- 
pendant upon occasional visits of ministers who served as itinerant 
missionaries to a wide circuit of congregations. 


In 1753, Rev. John Bager, an ordained minister from Ger- 
many, became pastor of the Lutheran Church at Hanover. His 
pastoral oversight extended to all the scattered Lutherans in 
York, Adams, Cumberland, and Franklin Counties. It is prob- 
able therefore, that Schuster’s congregation was included in his 
ministrations. 

Rev. John Casper Kirchner succeeded Rev. Bager from 1758 
to 1763. Like his predecessor, he had been ordained in Germany. 
He was stationed in York County where he had charge of Schus- 
ter’s and several other small congregations. During his labors in 


ol 


oO | 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 


this field, he journeyed to Baltimore, Md., every sixth week to 
preach and administer the sacraments. 

The name of Rey. Lucas Rauss is closely associated with 
Schuster’s between the years 1770 and 1787. He was a native 
of Germany, where he received his education both in theology and 
medicine. After his resignation as pastor of Christ Lutheran 
Church, York, Pa., in 17638, he continued to reside there the re- 
mainder of his life, and ministered to various congregations in 
the surrounding districts. Aside from being a profound theologian, 
he was a pioneer physician among the German settlers of York 
County. He traveled on horse back with his saddle-bags con- 
taining the few drugs used by physicians of olden times. After 
preaching a sermon to his congregation, administering the rite of 
baptism and confirmation, he rode among his parishioners and 
practiced the profession of medicine with success. 

Schuster’s first grant of land was given March 30, 1774. 
The document which is on parchment, is well preserved. It was 
an original grant from the proprietaries of the Province of Penn- 
sylvania, John, Thomas and Richard Penn, who directed a survey 
to be received in the land office at Philadelphia of ‘“‘a tract of land 
called the church lot, containing eight acres, one hundred and ten 
perches of land situated in Shrewsbury (now Springfield) Town- 
ship in the County of York, made by virtue of application No. 
5270, for John Hella and Nicholas Henry, in trust for the Lutheran 
congregation now founded thereon.” The consideration money 
for the transfer of the deed was eight shillings, ten pence. The 
church lot was in the shape of a right angled triangle. The land 
adjoining the base and the perpendicular of it was designated as 
belonging to Nicholas Schuster, hence the origin of the name 
“Schuster’s Church.” 

The first church was a primitive one of logs. The second 
building, a frame structure painted white, was known far and 
wide as “Die Weis Kirche,” the White Church. It is evident 
that the original log building remained standing during and after 
the erection of the second structure, since the following resolution 
is recorded in the Minutes of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, 
dated June 5, 1792: “A letter from the so-called Schuster’s con- 
eregation was read and Resolved, that the members who belong 
to the new church retain their right in it, but that they attend 
worship in the old church, and shall contribute to it; the preacher 
also shall preach in the old church.” 

Toward the close of the eighteenth century, the community 
became more thickly settled. The few pioneer Lutheran ministers 
in this country found themselves constrained to employ catechists 
to assist them in the gathering and building up of the scattered 
Lutheran constituency. They were permitted to preach, to cate- 
chize, to baptize, to visit the schools and the sick, and to attend 
the funerals; but were not allowed to administer confirmation or 


ayaye History OF WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the Lord’s Supper. Congregations served by them had the sacra- 
ments administered about once a year by non-resident ordained 
pastors. 

In 1792, August Rutz was appointed catechist of Sadtler’s, 
Blymires, Freysville and Schuster’s under the supervision of Rev. 
F. V. Melsheimer of Hanover, Pa. Rev. Rutz was transferred to 
other congregations in 1794. 

Rev. John Ruthrauff served until May, 1795. He was 
trained in theology under Rev. Jacob Goering, York, Pa. 

Rev. John Grobp was then appointed catechist of Schuster’s 
and five other congregations, in three of which he conducted 
German schools. After his ordination in Baltimore, Maryland, in 
1803, he resigned to accept a call to Taneytown, Maryland. 

The Rev. Grobp was succeeded in 1805 by John Herbst, Sr., 
a licensed candidate. His ordination took place in Germantown, 
Pas, June Le s05: 


John Herbst, Jr., was appointed to succeed his father, and 
remained from 1812 to 1819. The Herbsts resided in Gettysburg, 
Pa., while serving the Charge consisting of Fissel’s, Sadtler’s, Zion’s, 
Jerusalem, Krauter’s and Schuster’s. 

At a meeting of the Ministerium held in Baltimore, Md., 
Henry G. Stecker of Macungie, Pa., a student of theology, was 
given permission on his return home to preach to congregations 
in York County, which Rev. Herbst, Jr., had resigned. He re- 
ceived a call to the Charge of which Schuster’s was a part, and 
assumed his pastoral work in 1819, but was not ordained until 
1821. During his pastorate, which terminated in 1831, he re- 
sided at Martinsburg (Loganville), Pa. From that point he min- 
istered to eight congregations with a ecmbined membership of 
661. Following his resignation, there was a readjustment of the 
Charge in 1838, comprising Fissel’s, Steltze’s, Sadtler’s, Shrews- 
bury, Stabley’s and Schuster’s congregations. 

Rev. John Kaempfer became pastor of this newly formed 
Charge. A parsonage was purchased in Shrewsbury, Pa., at a 
cost of $1200.00. This expenditure was shared by all of the above 
congregations except Sadtler’s. Rev. Kaempfer remained on the 
field until 1843. 


Rev. Andrew Berg was the next pastor, and spent thirty 
years of his ministry here, from 1843 to 1878. During his pas- 
torate English preaching was introduced. Apparently, services 
were held jointly by Lutheran and Reformed until January 9, 
1848, when a division occurred. In the same year, on December 
25th, a constitution was adopted and a charter of incorporation 
eranted. The former is on record in German and the latter in 
English. These documents bear the new name “Friedensaal’s,”’ 
which translated into English means “‘Hall of Peace.” They are 
signed by George Leader, John Moyer, John Krout, Henry B. 


YorRK CounTY CONFERENCE 55a 


Caslow, elders; Joseph Ness, Henry Krout, George Ehrhart, and 
Samuel Caslow, wardens. 

The Sunday School movement received great encouragement 
under Rev. Berg, and schools were organized in all congregations 
served by him. 

A Parochial school supported by the congregation, had been 
conducted in a building on the church property for many years. 
On August 9, 1851, Jacob Snell, William Swartz, Joseph Stiles and 
Adam Ness, Elders of the church, leased to the School Directors 
of Springfield Township the school house erected on the church 
land. The lease was for a term of ten years, ‘if the common school 
system shall so long be in operation.” 

The third and present church building was erected in 1868. 
It is a substantial brick structure built on the original plot. The 
Building Committee consisted of Charles Bailey, William Krout, 
Michael Krout, Daniel Henry, Jesse Henry and John Myers. 

After the close of Rev. Berg’s pastorate in 1873, another re- 
adjustment of the charge took place, Friedensaal’s congregation 
withdrawing from the Shrewsbury Charge. 

From November, 1873, to October, 1874, Rev. J. C. Koller 
pastor of the Glen Rock Charge served as supply. 

During the latter part of 1874, a new charge was formed by 
Friedensaal’s uniting with Trinity church, Seven Valleys, Pa. At 
the time of this arrangement, Friedensaal’s reported one hundred 
and seventy-five members. 

On December 1, 1874, Rev. Daniel Stock accepted a call and 
remained one year. 

Rev. Levi T. Williams succeeded the Rev. Stock, and assumed 
charge December 1, 1875. He resigned as regular pastor in 1881. 

Unfortunately the records of Friedensaal’s dating from 1876 
to 1908 were accidently destroyed by fire. Hence no history cau 
be given of the church’s activity during this period. 

A vacancy of three years followed Rev. Willams’ resignation. 
During this interim, the Revs. Levi Willams, John T. Williams 
and Peter Anstadt, all of York, served as supples. 

June 7, 1884, Rev. Charles M. Eyster became pastor and re- 
signed July 1, 1885. 

August 24, 1885, the Charter of incorporation was amended, 
eranting female members of the congregation the privilege of 
voting at all elections. 

Rev. H. C. Fultz preached as a supply until September 17, 
1885. 

Rev. Henry T. Clymer was called to the pastorate October 
10, 1885, and served until November, 1890. 

Rev. Edwin Lenhart succeeded Rev. Clymer, and was pastor 
from May, 1891, to June, 1898. 

The next pastor, Rev. Benjamin F. Kautz, served from June 
1, 1898, to June 1, 1907. 


ee HistoRY OF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


December 1, 1907, Rev. W. M. Spangler took charge, and 
closed his pastoral work October 30, 1910. 

Rev. Adam J. Grossman was called February 1, 1911, and 
served until the time of his death in May, 1912. During the 
summer of 1911, Friedensaal’s added a belfry to its church build- 
ing, purchased a new McShane bell, and concreted the basement 
at an expenditure of $1008.00. 

Rev. John Erler, Ph. D., was elected October 138, 1912. At 
the close of his brief pastorate the church was served by supplies 
for a number of months. 

Rev. John I. Hummer assumed charge March 1, 1914, and 
resigned June 10, 1917, to accept a new field of labor. During 
his pastorate, in 1915, the interior of the church was completely 
renovated and beautified at an expenditure of $1500.00 The walls 
were refrescoed, the floor recarpeted, new pews, heating and light- 
ing plants installed. A Rededicatory Service was held, at which 
Rev. William Hesse, D. D., preached the sermon. The duplex 
envelope system was introduced, through which the financial re- 
sources continue to increase. 

In June, 1916, By-Laws were adopted to govern and regulate 
the sale and conduct of cemetery lots. 

Rey. Albert M. Hollinger succeeded Rev. Hummer on June 
12, 1917. After serving acceptably for five months, he resigned 
November 13. 1917, to accept a call to the West Manheim Charge 
of this Synod. 

Rev. Silas H. Culler became pastor after a vacancy of five 
months, serving from April 1, 1918, to the present time. 

During the summer of 1918, sheds were built on the church 
property to accommodate vehicles and automobiles. 

The Common Service Book was introduced in 1918. 

A new Constitution was adopted on November 6, 1919. 

The cemetery adjoining the church was incorporated on July 
8, 1924, and an endowment is being raised for its perpetual up- 
keep. The directors and officers are as follows: Frank Miller, 
John M. Rudisill, Wiliam M. Klinedinst, James Kline and 
Howard E. Deveney. 

The following members of the congregation served in the 
World War: Jacob Raver and Walter Reever. 

The present Church Council is composed of the following: 
Klders, John Klinedinst, Adam Henry, James Kline, Michael 
Henry, Jr.; Deacons, John Rudisill, Clinton Albright, Jacob 
Raver and Howard E. Deveney. 

The following organizations are making their contribution to 
the church’s growth: the Sunday School, Miss Alverta Krout, 
Superintendent, and the Luther League, Miss Carrie Klinedinst, 
President. 

A retrospective view of a congregation approximately one 
hundred and seventy-two years old fills our hearts with gratitude 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 55 


Or 








COUNCIL OF FRIEDENSAAL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
SEVEN VALLEYS CHARGE 
LEFT TO RIGHT, STANDING: JOHN M. Rupisi__t, Howarp E. DEVENEY, JACOB RAVER, 
CLINTON ALBRIGHT; SITTING: JAMES CLINE, JoHN A. KLINEDINST, Rev. S. H. Cut- 
LER, ADAM H. Henry, MICHAEL E. HENrRy, JR. 


556 Hisrory oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


for the true men and women of old who prepared the way for the 
improved conditions which exist at the present time. Many to- 
day are following their ancestors in the path of service for the 
church. 


ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, NORTH CODORUS 
TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, PA. 


(Seven Valleys Charge) 


Rryv...sitas, H.. CuLLER, PAsToR 





ST:-PAuL’s LuTHERAN CHURCH; YORK. Co:,, PA, 


St Paul’s church, familiarly known as Zeigler’s, is situated in 
the south-eastern part of North Codorus Township, York County, 
Pa., about one mile west of Seven Valleys, Pa. The exact year in 
which St. Paul’s was organized cannot be definitely determined. 
Doubtless, divine services were conducted at this point among the 
early German settlers many years before a formal organization 
was effected. The first record of Ministerial Acts is a baptism 
dated November 24, 1771. Inferences, however, warrant the 
formation of a congregation much earlier, since a book to be used 
as a church record was presented by Jacob Biehlmeyer on August 
2, 1754. The first building of logs stood in what is now the old 
cemetery, west of the present church, and served the two-fold 
purpose of church and school-house. The land upon which it 
was located was a grant given July 31, 1771, from Frederick Kuhn 
to Bernard Zeigler and Jacob Walter in trust for the use of the 


YorK CouNTY CONFERENCE 557 


Lutheran congregation. The consideration fee was six pounds, 
one shilling. It was supposed to be a tract of fifty acres (more 
or less), but when surveyed on November 6, 1772, by William 
Matthews, Deputy Surveyor, was found to contain thirty-two 
acres, 140 perches. It was resurveyed on April 26, 1839, for and 
at the request of the congregation. The deed for this grant of 
land was not recorded until May 21, 1858. 

The quaint old log church was used until 1775, when it was 
replaced by a commodious stone structure. In 1873, a belfry 
was added, and a new bel! costing $350.00 was purchased. In 
1880 the entire interior was remodeled. Galleries were built, the 
pulpit formerly reached by steps was lowered, and the straight 
high back pews gave place to others of more modern design. The 
building committee consisted of Israel K. Zeigler, George Messer- 
smith and Jesse Behler. After serving as a place of worship for 
many years, the stone edifice was removed and the present brick 
church of Gothic design erected on the same grant of land, but 
moved to a different location. The approximate cost was $7000.00. 
The building committee was composed of Martin Gladfelter, Jacob 
H. Beck, Emanuel Ruth, William H. Becker, and Martin Kline- 
dinst. The corner stone was laid June 23, 1907. Rev. G. W. 
Enders, D. D., of York, Pa., preached the sermon. In the cere- 
mony of laying the corner stone, Rev. B. F. Kautz was assisted 
by Revs. G. W. Enders, D. D., and F. 8. Geesey on the part of 
the Lutheran congregation, and the Revs. J. J. Stauffer and Vol- 
mer, Baltimore, Md., on the part of the Reformed congregation. 
The church was dedicated on Sunday, June 21, 1908, Rev. W. M. 
Spangler, pastor. The dedicatory sermons in English and German 
were preached respectively by Rev. J. A. Singmaster, D. D., and 
Rev. G. W. Enders, D. D. 

In the year 1913, German preaching was discontinued. 

On August 24, 1853, forty-five petitioners of St. Paul’s con- 
eregation filed application for a charter of incorporation, which 
was granted December 12, 1853. At that time Rev. C. J. Dein- 
inger was pastor, Jacob Folkomer and John Emig were elders, and 
Jesse Behler and Joshua Klinedinst, deacons. 

St. Paul’s has always been under Lutheran government, but 
since 1818 the Reformed constituency of the community had the 
privilege of using the church for divine services. On January 1, 
1854, the Reformed congregation again obtained permission on 
certain conditions embodied in several by-laws of the Lutheran 
constitution to continue holding services in the Lutheran church. 
The two congregations worshipped alternately every two weeks 
unti! 1914, when the Reformed congregation merged with the 
Lutheran. 

In 1908, the congregation purchased a plot of ground adjacent 
to the original tract for a new cemetery. By-Laws to regulate the 
same were adopted March 21, 1911. In January, 1925, a charter 


558 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


was granted, and an endowment has been created for the main- 
tenance of both old and new cemeteries. The Directors are as 
follows: Abner Brenneman, Curtin E. Brenneman, Edward A. 
Spangler, Luther Kessler, George Walter. 

In 1915, the duplex envelope system for church finances was 
introduced, through which the congregation is contributing much 
more largely to local work and the general benevolence of the 
church than in former years. 

A new house for the use of the Sexton was built on the church 
property in 1916. The Building Committee consisted of Luther 
Kessler, Abner Brenneman, Edward Spangler, Henry Rosenzweig, 
and Jacob Brenneman. The entire indebtedness of $1150.00 on 
this building was cancelled in 1920. 

Since the erection of the present church edifice it has been 
further improved and equipped by the following:—A modern 
heating plant installed in 1910; an individual communion service 
in 1914, with additional trays in 1919; a new carpet purchased by 
the C. E. Society in 1917; book-racks for pews in 1919; exterior 
wood work of church painted in 1919; the Common Service Book 
in 1920; a new piano purchased by Sunday School in 1920, and a 
scarf presented for same; gas lighting system installed in 1920; 
chairs for Primary Department purchased by Sunday School in 
1922; a walnut hymn-board presented by a member and a friend 
in 1923; building of electric line and installation of lights in church 
and sexton’s home in 1924. 

November 26, 1922, a new constitution was adopted by the 
Sunday School. 

For a long period, St. Paul’s was a preaching point for the 
pastor at Hanover (McAllister), Pa., whose parish extended from 
Southern Pennsylvania, through Maryland, to Virginia. These 
pioneer pastors struggled against adverse circumstances in travel- 
ing by horse back over a wide territory to gather together the 
scattered members of their faith and organize them into congre- 
gations. | 

The first pastor of whom there is any record is Rev. Carl 
Frederick Wildbahn. After his arrival in this country in 1755 as 
a soldier from Saxony, he taugbt a parochial school in Winchester, 
Virginia, until driven away on account of a raid by the Indians 
on that settlement. Being a man of good character, sound doc- 
trine, Christian conversation, and extraordinary eloquence, the 
Ministerium of Pennsylvania was petitioned by a number of 
congregations Which he had served, to ordain Mr. Wildbahn that 
he might the more fully minister to their spiritual needs. This 
was granted, and in 1770 he took up his residence in Hanover, 
Pa., where he labored with untiring zeal until 1782. 

The next pastor, Rev. Daniel Schroeder, came to America 
with the Hessian troops as many students did, and remained here. 
In 1784 he reported having ministered to eight congregations. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 559 


In 1790, Rev. Frederick Valentine Melsheimer came to Han- 
over, Pa., and ministered to various congregations and schools 
under his supervision. He was a man of considerable learning, 
and practiced medicine in connection with his missionary tours. 
“He was a very good preacher, but could not look his auditory in 
the face, from great timidity, and hence he always fixed his eye 
on one spot on the facing of the gallery.” In 1795 Rev. Mels- 
heimer reported only one German school in his congregations, 
because “the tendency toward English is very strong.” During 
the latter years of his life, he devoted special attention to the 
study of insects, and was the author of a valuable book on the 
science of entomology. He remained in Hanover, Pa., until the 
time of his death in 1814. 

In 1811 Rev. Adam Rudisill was received into the Ministerium 
as a catechist, and in 1813 as a licensed candidate, to be under the 
instruction and supervision of Rev. Melsheimer. Owing to the 
latter’s feebleness due to declining years, Rev. Rudisill performed 
many of the ministerial duties in the outlying districts which had 
been incumbent upon the aged pastor. His (Rev. Rudisill’s) 
baptismal records within St. Paul’s congregation date from 1811 
to 1815. 

Rev. John Frederick Melsheimer was his father’s successor, 
and labored in this congregation from 1815 to 1825. He inherited 
his father’s timidity. ‘“This was evident in the fact when he was 
to preach a funeral sermon at Kreutz Kirche, his first attempt. He 
rode up in sight of the church, when his courage failed him; he dis- 
mounted at a farm-house and watched until the folks, after 
Waiting a considerable time for his arrival and promised service, 
began to disperse after burying the dead. Then only he mounted 
his horse and galloped up to the church—and lo! they were all 
gone. On his return his father asked him how he got along in 
his first attempt to preach; he replied to the great surprise and 
chagrin of his father, that they were all gone when he arrived.” 

Rev. Jacob Albert who received his theological training under 
Rev. Melsheimer, Jr., performed a number of ministerial acts 
among the parishioners of St. Paul’s between the years 1825 and 
1832. 

Rey. A. G. Deininger took charge of the congregation from 
1833 to 1846. His vast field included the following churches: 
Salem (Dover), Roth’s (Lower Chanceford), Lischys, St. John’s 
(“Franklin Church’’), Wolf’s, Sowers (Red Run), and St. Paul’s 
(Zeigler’s). Father Deininger served but one charge in his life, 
and that one over half a century, from 1828 to 1879. After an 
illness of fifteen months as the result of a fractured hip, he died in 
East Berlin, Pa., September 29, 1880, in his 86th year. 

Rey. Constantine J. Deininger, as his father’s successor, 
served from 1846 to 1850. In 1849 he introduced into St. Paul’s 


560 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


a more frequent observance of the Lord’s Supper, administering 
it twice a year instead of only once as formerly. 

Rev. Leonard Gerhart served from 1850 to 1853. 

In 1853 Rev. C. J. Deininger was recalled, and served until 
January 7, 1866. During this period, Salem (Jacobus), Mt. Zion, 
Starview, Quickel’s, and York New Salem were also under his 
pastoral care. The following statistics show the result of his long 
and arduous labors in St. Paul’s congregation; Infant Baptisms 
562; Adult Baptisms 18; Confirmations 288; Marriages 127; 
Funeral Sermons 182. He was a faithful pastor, a practical 
preacher, and as a catechist had few equals. He died January 21, 
1885, aged 63 vears. 

Rev. Peter Rizer, was pastor from 1866 to 1867. 

The next pastor Rev. John Conoway, began his labors here 
in 1867. <A few years later a*pastorate was formed known as the 
“Conoway Charge,’’ composed of Sadtlers, York New Salem. and 
St. Paul’s. This was served by Rev. Conoway until St. Paul’s 
became a part of the Seven Valleys Charge on October 7, 1893. 


From this date the pastors of St. Paul’s were the same as 
those who served the other two churches of the Charge. Rev. 
Edwin Lenhart, 1893-1898; Rev. Benjamin F. Kautz, 1898-1907; 
Rev. W. M. Spangler, 1907-1910; Rev. Adam J. Grossman, 1911- 
1912; Rev. John Erler, Ph. D., October, 1912-March, 1913; Rev. 
John I. Hummer, 1914-1917; Rev. Albert M. Hollinger, June 
1917-November, 1917; Rev. 8. H. Culler, 1918 to the present. 


The following constitute the present Church Council: Elders— 
Luther Kessler, Edward A. Spangler, Curtis E. Brenneman, J. 
Wiley Sbepperd; Deacons—Joseph Kessler, Clarence L. Glad- 
felter, Paul Ruth, Edward Warner. 

Two organizations are formed within the congregation and 
are contributing liberally to the support of local work and benevo- 
lence: the Sunday School—Luther Kessler, Superintendent; C. E. 
Society, George Depfer, President. 


The life and work of many of the members would be worthy 
of mention, but owing to the limited space, we shall name only 
the sons of St. Paul’s who have entered the ministry: Rev. Charles 
Diehl, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Trenton, N. J., and 
Willis Brenneman, pastor of the Lebanon Charge, Felton, Pa. 

During the World War the following members of St. Paul’s 
entered the service of their country: William H. Gladfelter, Walter 
E. Brenneman, William E. Fishel, Daniel A. Brenneman, Elmer 
Krout, Oscar Gladfelter, Norman N. Brenneman, Curtis Buie, 
Lloyd Becker and Wilson Buie. The last two named paid the 
supreme sacrifice—Lloyd Becker in France, and Wilson Buie at 
Camp Upton, N. Y. 

St. Paul’s Church is not the product of a day; her existence 
covers a period of over one and a half centuries. Many genera- 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 561 





POUNCIESOLS ST PAUL SoUUTHERANT CHURCH, SEVEN# VALLEYS; CHARGE 


LEFT TO RIGHT, STANDING—EDWARD WARNER, CLARENCE L. GLADFELTER, PAUL 
RuTH, JOSEPH KESSLER, SITTING—J. WILEY SHEPPERD, CurTIS E. BRENNEMAN, 
Rev. S. H. Cutter, LUTHER KESSLER, Epwarp A. SPANGLER. 





562 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


tions of her faithful members have entered into their eternal reward. © 
But there are yet within her fold those servants of the Lord who 
are now zealously carrying forth the work begun by their fore- 
fathers. 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, SEVEN VALLEYS, YORK 
(CO UIN Yee tAS 


(Seven Valleys Charge) 
REVeoibAseH. CoLuprebActOR 


Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Congregation was organized by 
Rev. C. J. Deininger, on March 29, 1868. On July 4th, 1868, 
Henry Bott and wife deeded to George F. Shive, Esq., and Henry 
Fishel, trustees for above named congregation a lot of ground with 
a church ‘thereon erected,’ for the consideration of $1600.00. 
After using this as a place of worship for three years, it was de- 
cided to build a new church in another section of the town. Sub- 
sequently, on June 3, 1871, the plot of ground upon which the 
present edifice stands was also purchased from Henry Bott, and 
plans were formulated for the erection of a frame structure. The 
Building Committee was composed of W. W. Bott, Lewis H. Ep- 
pley, Henry Tschopp and Alexander Klinedinst. At the laying 
of the corner stone on July 23, 1871, the following ministers par- 
ticipated in the service: Rev. J. A. Brown, D. D., Rev. J. C. Kol- 
ler and Rev. Andrew Berg. The church was completed at an 
expenditure of $2703.00, and was consecrated to the service of 
God in October, 1871. The sermons on that occasion were preach- 
ed by Rev. C. J. Deininger and Rev. A. H. Lochman, D. D., of 
York, Pa. The Charter of Incorporation granted November 21, 
1872, was signed by William Diehl, Nathan Gladfelter, W. W. 
Bott, M. L. Bott, M. D., Geo. Caslow, Henry Tschopp, Valentine 
Kuntz, Henry C. Kuntz, Lewis H. Eppley and Henry Bott. 

Rev. C. J. Deininger served the congregation as pastor until 
September 16, 1874. 

During the Fall of 1874, Friedensaal’s was added to Trinity, 
thus constituting the Seven Valley Charge. This adjustment was 
made with the understanding that Friedensaal’s have Divine 
Service three Sundays out of four, half English, half German, and 
Trinity to have service every Sunday. The membership of Trinity 
at this time was forty members. 

From this period, the pastors of Trinity were the same as 
those who served Friedensaal’s: Rev. Daniel Stock, 1874-1875; 
Rev. Levi T. Williams, 1875-1881; Rev. Charles M. Eyster, 1884- 
1885; Rev. Henry T. Clymer, 1885-1890; Rev. Edwin Lenhart, 


YorK County CONFERENCE 563 


1891-1898; Rev. Benjamin F. Kautz, 1898-1907; Rev. W. M. 
Spangler, 1907-1910; Rev. Adam J. Grossman, 1911-1912; Rey. 
John Erler, October 13, 1912————;; Rev. Wilbur Allison, supply; 
Rev. John I. Hummer, 1914-1917; Rev. Albert M. Hollinger, 
June, 1917-November 1917; Rev. 8. H. Culler, 1918 to the present. 

A Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society was or- 
ganized in December, 1885, with an earnest band of 9 consecrated 
women. Mrs. Jesse Gladfelter was its first president. It has 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


made substantial growth in membership and benevolent offerings. 


Prior to Rev. Clymer’ s ministry, the pastors resided in York 
and in rented homes in Seven Valleys, Pa. On April 26, 1886, 
steps were taken toward the erection of a parsonage. Nathan 
Gladfelter, Dr. J. A. Gladfelter and Rev. H. T. Clymer were ap- 
pointed to select a suitable site and to secure a house-plan. This 
committee proposed the lot adjoining Trinity church, which the 
congregation subsequently purchased on July 22, 1886, from W. 
W. Bott. Upon this a two and one-half story dwelling was 
erected, under the direction of Nathan Gladfelter, Geo. B. Caslow, 
and Rey. H. T. Clymer as a Building Committee. The parsonage 
was completed about January 1, 1887 at an expenditure of $1234.00, 
including lot. It is still owned and maintained by Trinity con- 
gregation. 


564. History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


On May 11, 1887, by-laws were adopted to govern Mt. Pros- 
pect Cemetery, which is the property of Trinity Church. 

In the Fall of 1895, during Rev. Lenhart’s pastorate, the 
church was remodeled and enlarged to its present dimensions, the 
approximate cost having been $900.00. This improvement was 
supervised by H. C. Kuntz and Geo. B. Caslow. 


A fine toned organ was presented to the Congregation in 
1897, the gift of J. D. C. Young, a member of Trinity. At various 
times, individuals, Sunday School Classes and Organizations have 
been the donors of additional gifts, including Pulpit Bibles, Altar 
and Pulpit Covers, Communion Services, hymn-board, organ for 
primary room, plano cover and other useful articles. 


In 1898, when Rev. Kautz assumed charge, the rear of the 
parsonage was raised to two stories, thus making a comfortable 
9 room dwelling. A committee composed of H. C. Kuntz, Geo. 
B. Sheffer and D. M. Henry had charge of this improvement. 
During this pastorate, new pulpit furniture was presented by the 
women of the church, who, while not organized as a Ladies’ Aid 
Society, served in that capacity. 

The church was again renovated and beautified in the summer 
of 1911, under Rev. Grossman’s administration. The interior was 
repapered, repainted, recarpeted, pews revarnished, new lighting 
and heating plants installed, and new art glass windows added, 
many of which are memorials. These improvements which cost 
$1000.00, were under the supervision of a special committee con- 
sisting of Nathan Gladfelter, H. C. Kuntz, and Mrs. D. M. Henry, 
in conjunction with the pastor and members of the Council who 
were J. H. Huett, William Bupp, Chauncey E. Henry and Charles 
W. Klinedinst, October 1 to 3, 1911, special services were con- 
ducted to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the erection of the 
present church building, the Silver Jubilee of the Woman’s Mis- 
sionary Society, and the rededication of the renovated church. 
The sermons on these occasions were delivered by Rev. H. H. 
Weber, D. D., Rev. Adam Stump, D. D., Rev. Edwin Lenhart, 
Rev. David 8. Martin and Rev. A. J. Grossman. 


Rev. Grossman’s ministry within this charge was sadly ter- 
minated by an accident which proved fatal. On May 18, 1912, 
while returning from a meeting at St. Paul’s church, the front of 
the vehicle in which he was riding parted from the main body, 
thus throwing him to the ground on his face. He sustained in- 
juries which rendered him unconscious. After lingering in this 
condition for four days, he departed this life on May 22, 1912. 
Funeral services were conducted in Trinity Church of this place 
on May 28, 1912, after which his remains were conveyed to Day- 
ton, Ohio, for interment. 


In the summer of 1912, concrete walks were laid at the front 
and side of the church, thus commanding a splendid approach. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 565 





SN CLeAIND CEMETERY “TRUSTEES OF SLRINITY LUTHERAN, CHURGH 
SEVEN VAELEYS CHARGE 





Lert TO RicHT, STANDING—NATHAN GLADFELTER (CHARTER MEMBER), ELMER E. 
Hammer, Harry F. BowMAN, AUBURN H. GLADFELTER, CHAUNCEY E. HENRY 
(SUNDAY SCHOOL SupPT). SITTING—LESTER A. FISHEL, Rev. S. H., CULLER, 
HERMAN ALBERS. 





566 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The duplex envelopes were introduced in 1915 by Rev. 
Hummer. 

During the latter part of the year 1917, shortly before the 
close of Rev. Hollinger’s pastorate, the parsonage was remodeled 
at an approximate cost of $950.00. A large porch was added, a 
furnace installed, and a portion of the roof of both parsonage and 
church recovered with slate. 

From July, 1918, to the present, aside from liquidating an 
old debt of $700.00 resting on the congregation, various improve- 
ments have been made at an expenditure of $2060.00. These 
consisted of a new garage, painting exterior of church and par- 
sonage, papering parsonage, installing electric lights in church and 
parsonage, building concrete steps leading into the church, re- 
roofing one-half of church, and installing a bath and water system 
in the parsonage. This work was accomplished through the free- 
will offerings and gratuitous labor of members and friends. 


The Common Service Book was adopted in 1919. 


Many recent improvements have been made to the cemetery, 
including a neat and substantial iron fence. The present trustees 
are: S. Russell Deveney, and Elmer E. Hamme. 


The present church council is composed of the following 
members: Elders—Auburn H. Gladfelter, and Herman Albers; 
Deacons—Harry F. Bowman and Lester A. Fishel. 


The following helpful organizations have been formed within 
the church and are directed by efficient leaders: The Sunday 
School, Chauncey E. Henry, Superintendent; Woman’s Missionary 
Society, Mrs. Spencer KE. Henry, President; Light Brigade, Miss 
Anna R. Fishel, Superintendent; Senior Luther League, Mrs. 
Auburn H. Gladfelter, President; Junior Luther League, Russell 
Bowman, Superintendent. 


Since December, 1922, a parish paper, under the title ‘““The 
Parish Messenger,” has been published monthly by the pastor, 
and is financed by members and friends of the three churches of 
the charge. 

During the World War, the following members of Trinity 
entered their country’s service: Auburn H. Gladfelter, Austin 
Fishel, Leonard Emig, Paul Emig, Lawrence Budesheim, Ray- 
mond Gladfelter, John Gladfelter, Walter A. Fishel and Maurice 
Shive. 3 

Much credit is due the women of Trinity church. They have 
been potent factors in the development of the congregation, 
having given much time, energy and money to the service of the 
church. 

The early years of Trinity were fraught with struggle and 
discouragement. Her progress, although not rapid, has been 
steady. The congregation now numbers one hundred fifty-nine 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 567 


members. Her greatest advance in recent years has been in the 
matter of finances, both current and benevolent. 


A few of those who laid the foundation of Trinity congrega- 
tion are still with us, and are now being rewarded by seeing the 
fruits of their patient toil and sacrifice. Others have assumed the 
work which they have laid down, and are now also laboring 
willingly and faithfully for the progress of the Master’s kingdom. 





REV. GEORGE EDWARD BOWERSOX 
PastToR OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, SHREWSBURY, PA. 


George Edward Bowersox, was 
born on a farm near Union Mills, 
Garrole Con Vides A Ucsts 16) 
1886. His parents were Jere- 
miah D. and Amelia B. Bower- 
sox (nee Stengel). At the age 
of seven, the father having died 
four years before, the family 
moved to Silver Run, Md. Here 
he attended the public schools 
and worked on farms and in can- 
ning factories until the fall of 
1905, when he entered Gettys- 
burg Academy. The year fol- 
lowing he entered Gettysburg 
College, from which institution 
he was graduated with the class 
of 1910. The following three 
years were spent in the Theologi- 
cal Seminary at Gettysburg. He was licensed to preach at the 
meeting of the Maryland Synod in Williamsport, Md., 1912. 
Following his graduation from Seminary, he entered upon his 
first pastorate, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Allentown, Pa., 
in May, 1913. At the meeting of the East Pennsylvania Synod 
the same year he was ordained. 


During the pastorate at Allentown, a parsonage was built. 
and the church building renovated and repaired. He remained 
in this field of work until October 1, 1918, when he became pastor 
of the church where he now labors, Christ Lutheran Church, 
Shrewsbury, Pa. 


Rev. Bowersox was married June 17, 1913, to Miss Anna 
May Hankey of Oakmont, Pa., daughter of A. J. and Mary P. 





568 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Hankey (nee Dewalt). Three children have been born to them: 
George Edward, Jr., Mary Amelia, and Glen Hankey. 

The West Pennsylvania Synod elected Rev. Bowersox its 
Secretary in 1923. Upon the removal of Rev. Geo. W. Nicely, 
D. D., from the bounds of the Synod the office of President became 
vacant, March 14th, 1925. The Executive Committee of the 
Synod committed the work of this office to Rev. Bowersox, to 
serve as Secretary and Acting President; and at the following 
meeting of the Synod at Chambersburg, he was regularly elected 
to the office of President, in which place of honor and usefulness 
he is now serving. 





CHRIST EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, SHREWS- 
iS WY ee ea? 


Rev. Georce EK. BowERSox, PASTOR 


There were doubtless 
people of Lutheran and Re- 
formed faith living in the 
vicinity of Shrewsbury long 
before 1822. They found 
opportunity for worship 
and church life, however, 
in connection with the con- 
eregations at Steltz’s, TFis- 
sel’s and Sadtler’s all of 
which organizations ante- 
date the Shrewsbury con- 
gregation. Following 1807 
when the York-Baltimore 
turnpike was opened, the 
Village of Shrewsbury 
(Strasburg) developed as a 
trading center for the far- 
mers of this district. This, 
together with increased set- 
tlement of the community, 
in the same period lead to 
the desire for a more con- 
venient place of worship 
and facilities for the in- 
struction of the young. 
Curist LUTHERAN. CHURCH A tract of land contain- 

SHEWSBURY, Pa. ing 80 perches was con- 
veyed December 12, 1822, 








YorK County CONFERENCE 569 


by John Kline and wife, Elizabeth, to John Beck, Sr., and Jacob 
Ruhl, trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran and German Re- 
formed congregations which may be formed in and around the 
village of Shrewsbury. Conditioning this gift are these provisions: 
“This land is never to be sold or conveyed for any other purpose 
whatsoever. But to remain for the sole use of the above mentioned 
congregations. That is for building a church on, and for a grave- 
yard and also for a school house, but for no other purpose whatso- 
ever.’ The first undertaking of the group interested was to build 
a log school house. In this building religious services were con- 
ducted and congregations organized. 


The Lutheran pastor in charge of this work was Rev. Henry 
G. Stecker, who in 1819 had taken charge of the ‘York Co. 
Charge” (Steltze’s, Fissel’s, Shusters’ Sadtler’s, Stabley’s, Bly- 
meyers, Frey’s). During his pastorate he lived at Loganville 
(Martinsburg). 

The corner-stone of the first church building was laid with 
appropriate ceremony, September, 1824, the sermon being preached 
by the Rev. John G. Schmucker of York. The building was 
completed in the latter part of the following year. This church 
was a commodious, rectangular brick building. The interior was 
finished in a design prominent in that period; having galleries on 
three sides, elevated pulpit, altar enclosed by chancel rail in form 
of a square. The work was in charge of Philip Folkemmer and 
Michael Ruhl as representing the Lutherans. The cost, which 
would seem to have been near $3000.00, was doubtless a burden 
to the limited membership. In 1830 efforts were made to collect 
funds from brethren of the faith in Philadelphia. Cancelled notes 
indicate that the debt was carried for a number of years. Syn- 
odically the congregation was a member of the Ministerium of 
Pennsylvania, until the organization of West Pennsylvania Synod. 
The membership of the congregation was doubtless less than 100. 
The first roll of members extant is of 1850, when 158 are listed. 

Rev. Stecker resigned the charge in 1831. The following two 
years were marked by efforts to redistrict the work of this extensive 
field. The Shrewsbury District was constituted a charge in 1833, 
with parsonage at Shrewsbury, (Steltze’s, Fissel’s, Shuster’s 
Stabley’s, Sadtler’s and Shrewsbury). Rev. John Kaempfer (the 
first graduate of Gettysburg Seminary) became pastor of this 
Charge and continued to serve it until 1843. 


570 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The third pastorate 
Was In many respects an 
outstanding one. Rev. 
Andrew Berg became 
pastor in=1843 (and 
labored in the charge until 
1873. These 30 years are 
marked by development 
throughout the charge. 
A new brick school house 
was erected in 1845, bel- 
fry added to the church, 
a plpe organ—doubtless 
the first in this section— 
was also secured about 
this time. 4S, Wine dessa 
Schools were organized 
throughout his parish, 
not only in connection 
with the congregations. 
but at other points where 
in some cases congrega- 
tions have since devel- 
oped. At one time 10: 
such schools were re- 
ported in the charge. 
English services were in- 
Rev. ANDREW BERG RSET Ta ei Seas 

The closing decade of his pastorate was marked by efforts to 
build a new church and separate the congregation from the re- 
straining influences of a union church. To that end separate. 
cemetery land was secured and ground for a new church location 
along the main highway. Material was also prepared for build- 
ing the church; but, as with David, another must complete the 
task. 

Rey. J. H. Menges became the next pastor. During his. 
pastorate brilhant progress was made. The charge was reduced 
to three congregations: Fissel’s, Shrewsbury, and a new organiza- 
tion at New Freedom. The new church was erected at a cost. 
of $14,000 and membership increased to 300. He closed his 
pastorate February, 1878, at which time Rev. E. Manges took 
up the work. Pastor Manges remained in charge until 1881. 
During this brief period the final dissolution of the union with the. 
Reformed congregation was effected, and a frame Sunday School 
building erected. 

From 1881 to 1894 the Rev. Ephriam Miller, D. D., was 
pastor. His scholarly attainments and benevolent spirit are evl- 
denced in the internal development of congregational life. A. 





-— 


YorK CouNtTy CONFERENCE BYE 


Woman’s Missionary Society (one of the charter societies of West 
Pennsylvania Synod) was organized;.also a Christian Endeavor 
Society, a Children’s Missionary Society and a Luther Alliance. 
The close of the pastorate reveals a congregation of 325 members, 
well organized and indoctrinated; standing well in synodical 
benevolences. 

In calling the next pastor, Rev. A. M. Heilman, the congrega- 
tion decided to assume his full support, and withdrew from the 
charge. The jointly-owned parsonage was sold and a new one 
erected adjoining the church. In 1897 the church was refrescoed, 
steam heat installed and 
a pipe organ secured. At 
the close of this pastorate 
in 1906 the records show 
410 active members with 
475 on the roll. The be- 
nevolent gifts having grown 
to $600.00 annually. 

Rev. Heilman was _ suc- 
ceeded by Rev. N.S. Wolf, 
who began his work May, 
1907, and was pastor until 
the fall of 1911. During 
this time the Duplex en- 
velope system was intro- 
duced and _ special stress 
placed upon the organiza- 
tional work of the congre- 
gation. Benevolent gifts 
increased to $1600 a year. 

Rev. C. F. V. Hesse was 
pastor from 1912 to 1918. 
Outstanding in this period 
is the erection of a brick 





Sunday School addition to LUTHERAN CHURCH PARSONAGE 
the church and remodeling SHEWSBURY, Pa. 
the old 8. S. building for (Parish HouSE IN THE REAR.) 


social activities. 


Rev. Geo. E. Bowersox became pastor in October, 1918. A 
few items from last synodical report will reveal the present status 
of the congregation. Active members, 470; S. 8. Scholars, 261; 
Students for the ministry, 1. Current expense $3517; unusual local 
expense, $1271; benevolence, $3868. Valuation of church prop- 
erty including Cemetery funds, $53,681.00. 


Two sons of the congregation have entered the Lutheran Min- 
istry: Rev. Geo. W. Frederick, 1866; Rev. Lloyd M. Keller, 1922. 
Four congregations have in part been organized from this 


512 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


church: Zion, Glen Rock, 1863; St. John’s, New Freedom, 1874; 
St. Paul’s, Hametown, 1874; Messiah, Railroad, 1912. 

The congregation has been fortunate in receiving bequests 
from its members from time to time, in addition to parcels of 
eround; a total of more than $12,000 has come to the congrega- 
tion in this manner, greatly aiding its material development. 


REV. ALBERT OSWALD MULLEN, D. D., 


Pastor or Str. Pauu’s LUTHERAN CHURCH 
Spring Grove, Pennsylvania 


Born inSmithsburg, Maryland, 
on January 10, 1867. Baptized 
by Rev. J. W. Grimm, pastor of 
the United Brethren Church at 
Wolfsville, Maryland. 

Confirmed by Rev. D. B. 
Floyd, pastor of the Lutheran 
Church in Boonsboro, Maryland. 

His higher education he re- 
ceived at Pennsylvania College, 
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from 
which institution he graduated 
in 1891, and from the Theological 
Seminary at Gettysburg in 1894. 
From 1907 to 1913 he was a post 
eraduate student in Political 
Economy, Political Science and 
the History of Philosophy at 
Johns Hopkins University, Bal- 
timore, Maryland. 

He was licensed to preach by the Maryland Synod in St. 
Mark’s Lutheran Church, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1893, and or- 
dained at Frostburg, Md., October 11, 1894, the Rev. Edwin 
Heyl Delk, D. D., being President of the Maryland Synod at 
that time. He entered the ministry from the Third English Luth- 
eran Church, Baltimore, Maryland, under the pastorate of the 
Rev. I. C. Burke, D. D. 


Rev. Dr. Mullen was pastor at Watsontown, Pennsylvania, 
from 1894 until 1903; Ardmore, Pennsylvania, from 1908 to 1904; 
Chaplain of the Maryland Penitentiary from 1905 to 19138; As- 
sistant Pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Baltimore, Maryland, 
from 1913 to 1914; and has been pastor at Spring Grove, Penn- 
sylvania since 1914. 





YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 573 


He has served in the following several offices in the Church: 
Secretary of the Susquehanna Synod, 1897 to 1900; member of 
the Educational Committee of the West Pennsylvania Synod 
from 1916 serving as Financial and Recording Secretary of 
that Committee at the present time; President of the York County 
Conference of the West Pennsylvania Synod from 1923 to 1924; 
member of the Executive Committee of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod 1923-1924; assistant Secretary of the General Synod in 
1899 and 1901; and Statistical Secretary of the General Synod 
from 1899 to 1905. 

In June, 1922, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred 
upon him by his Alma Mater, Gettysburg College. 

Dr. Mullen was married to Lulu Grace Bikle, in St. John’s 
Lutheran church, Hagerstown, Maryland, on June 27, 1895, 
by Rev. 8. W. Owen, D. D. 








ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, SPRING GROVH, PA. 


Rev. ALBERT OswaLtD Mu.uuen, D. D., Pastor 





ST. PAUL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, SPRING GROVE, PA. 


Sometime during the year 1869, Rev. Daniel J. Hauer, D. D., 
who was at that time Pastor of Lischey’s Lutheran Church in 
North Codorus Township, of York Co., began to preach and con- 
duct a Sunday School in a little brick school house in what was 
then the village of Spring Forge, but has since become the borough 
of Spring Grove. 


5/4 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Nine years later Dr. Hauer suggested the erection of a church 
and the forming of a congregation. This suggestion was favor- 
ably received by the members of the Lutheran Church in the vi- 
cinity and a building committee consisting of Messrs. Philip H. 
Glatfelter, Dieterich Swartz, and Abraham Rife was appointed. 
Work on a church building was begun early in 1879 and the same 
was finished early in the spring of 1880. 


On March 10, 1880, a permanent organization was formed, 
over which the Rev. Dr. Hauer presided, and twenty-six ladies 
and gentlemen were received 
either by letter or profession of 
faith, they thereby becoming the 
charter members of the new con- 
eregation. 

The name selected was St. 
Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of Jackson Township, 
York County, Pennsylvania. The 
new church was dedicated on 
Easter Monday, 1880. Services 
were conducted in both English 
and German, the English sermon 
being preached by the Rev. J. 
H. Menges, and the German by 
Rev. P. Anstadt, D. D. The 
cost of the building was $13,200. 


nos Soon after dedication, Rev. 

Rev. Danie, J. Haver, D. D. Dr. Hauer resigned as Pastor and 

ORGANIZER AND First Pastor Rev. M. J. Alleman was elected 

as his successor. Rev. Alleman 

served the congregation about a year, when Rev. Dr. Hauer was 
recalled to the pastorate and served until 1889. 


The Pastors serving St. Paul’s Church are as follows: Rev. 
Daniel J. Hauer, D. D.; Organizer and first pastor, 1880; Rev. 
M. J. Alleman, 1880-1881; Rev. Daniel J. Hauer, D. D., 1881- 
1889; Rev. Amos A. Parr, 1890-1905; Rev. M. L. Clare, 1905- 
1914; Rev. A. O. Mullen, D. D., 1914 to the present. 


In 1907, 1908 the first building was replaced by the present 
beautiful church at a cost of about $100,000.00 This beautiful 
church is not a memorial as many have supposed, but the fallow- 
inscriptions taken from two fine bronze reliefs in the rear of the 
church speak for themselves: 


“To the glory of God and in loving memory of Philip H. 
Glatfelter, born 1838, died 1907, to his Christian zeal and con- 
secrated wealth St. Paul’s is deeply indebted. ‘Not slothful 





YorK County CONFERENCE 57! 


in business, fervent in spirit, 
serving the Lord.’ His life was 
inspiring, his memory is a bene- 
diction.” 

St. Paul’s was a name too dear 
to his heart from the time of its 
birth, to be.known by any other 
name. 

“To the Glory of God and in 
loving memory of Rev. Daniel J. 
Hauer, D. D., born 1805, died 
1901, who organized St. Paul’s 
in 1880 and for ten years served 
as pastor. A preacher of right- 
eousness he lives today in the 
hearts of a host whose lives he 
has blessed.” 

Almost from the beginning St. Mr. Puirip H. GLarreLTer 
Paul’s Church of Spring Grove 
took a commanding position in the Church of our fathers. In 
the amount of her benevolent offerings she is second to no con- 
gregation in the West Pennsylvania Synod, nor has she been for 
many years. Her name is permanently linked with Gettysburg 
College in ‘“‘Glatfelter Hall” and when, a few years ago the College 
raised a million dollar endowment fund, one tenth of the amount 
was contributed by the congregation and individuals who are 
proud to have their names written among the roll of her members. 
From the beginning she has had a voice in the councils of the church 
at large. Scarcely, if ever, has she not had a representative on 
the floor of the General Synod, and has never been without one 











Mr. W. H. MENGES MR We ale. GUATFELTER 


576 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


on the floor of the United Lutheran Church. She was vitally 
connected with the merger of the three great general bodies in 
the person of Mr. W. L. Glatfelter, who was a member of the Ways 
and Means Committee which brought that happy event to a 
successful conclusion. In the past she has been represented on 
the Board of Church Extension, and the Board of Home Missions 
and Church Extension in the person of Mr. W. L. Glatfelter. At 
present she is represented on the Board of Foreign Missions in 
the person of Mr. W. H. Menges, and on the Laymen’s Missionary 
Committee by the Treasurer of the Committee, Mr. W. L. Glat- 
felter. No worthy cause has ever appealed to her in vain, no 
service asked of her or any of her members has ever gone undone. 


REV. & BAJACOBS 
PASTOR OF THE SPRY—WINDSOR PARK CHARGE 


C. F. Jacobs, the son of Casper 
Jacobs and Christiana (Ulery) 
Jacobs (sister of Revs. William 
F. and Christian D. Ulery) was 
born near Bakersville, Somerset 
County, Pa., September 1, 1865. 
He was baptized and reared in 
Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, Bakersville, Pa., con- 
firmed in Mt. Zion Lutheran 
Church, @eMarch #22) ess Qeemos 
Rev. L. L. Sieber. 

His early years were spent on 
a farm near Bakersville. He 
received his early training in the 
village school and later in the 
local Normal School at Somerset, 
Pa. At the age of seventeen 
vears he began teaching in the 
public schools and taught for 
six years in the public schools and local Normal Schools. By 
the aid of tutors he prepared for College. In 1889 he entered the 
Freshman class of Gettysburg College and graduated with the 
class of 1892, with the degree Bachelor of Arts. He entered the 
Theological Seminary in the same year and graduated in 1895. 
The degree of Master of Arts was conferred on him in 1895 by 
his Alma Mater. 

He was licensed to preach at Meyersdale, Pa., 1894; and 
ordained at Somerset, Pa., in 1895. His first pastorate was the 





YorK County CONFERENCE Sit 


Sinking Valley Charge, Tyrone, Pa., where he labored for three 
years; second charge was St. Mark’s, Steelton, Pa., four years; 
third charge, St. James’, York, Pa., which was then a mission 
congregation with less than forty members. Here he labored for 
more than fourteen years, during which period the congregation 
had grown to a membership of 310 and a Sunday School of 426. 
During these years lots were purchased on West Market Street, 
the parsonage erected, the church building enlarged to more than 
twice its original size, completely remodeled, and a large Parish 
House erected. His fourth charge was at MecConnellsburg, Pa., 
for five years; fifth charge, Spry-Windsor Park, York, Pa., from, 
November 1, 1921, to date. 

He served as a Home Missionary four years at Steelton, six 
years at York, St. James’, and two years at Emmanuel, York. 
Delegate to General Synod in 1909 at Richmond, Indiana. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Puria H. Krout, sister 
of Rev. Jos. D. Krout, on October 2, 1895. Family consists of 
three daughters and one son: Dorothy L., Mrs. J. R. Morgart of 
York, Pa.; Margaret L.; Carolyn I.; and Charles Richard, at 
home. 


CHRISTY LUTHERAN CHURCH, SPRY, PA. 
(Spry—Windsor Park Charge) 


Rev. ©. Fo JAcogs, -PASTOR 


Rev. C. W. Baker, Mis- 
sionary Superintendent of 
York County Conference, 
began work at Spry, June 
10, 1896. As a result of 
his labors Christ Lutheran 
Church was organized on 
Sunday, July 19, 1896, at 
2 P. M. with thirty-four 
charter members, six of 
whom are still members of 
the congregation: Mr. and 
Mrs. Jobn Hamberger, Ad- 
am L. Ness, Mrs. Alice 
Hovis, Mrs. Ida Fuhrman 
and Mrs. John Emenheiser. 

The organization was ef- 
fected by Rev. W.S. Freas, Curist LUTHERAN CHURCH 
D. D., President of West Spry, Pa. 
Pennsylvania Synod. He 
was assisted by Revs. G. W. Enders, D. D., and Peter Livingston. 





578 ~ History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The following officers were elected: Elders, Jacob Diehl and John 
Hamberger; Deacons, Adam L. Ness, James M. Fuhrman, Ed- 
ward H. Landis and W. L. Bullet. 

On August 6, 1896, ground was broken for the original church 
building. Rev. C. W. Baker conducted the services. Addresses 
were delivered by Rev. A. Bell and Rev. Peter Livingston. 

The cornerstone was laid on September 6, 1896. Rev. E. J. 
Wolf, D. D., of the Theological Seminary of Gettysburg, preached 
the sermon and Rev. H. Louis Baugher, D. D., President of the 
General Synod, laid the cornerstone. Ministers present were Drs. 
Freas, Enders, Anstadt, Revs. Fastnacht, Livingston, Bell and 
Baker. 

Dedicatory services were held on May 23, 1897. Dr. H. 
Louis Baugher preached in the morning, Dr. G. W. Enders in the 
afternoon and Rev. Fred 8. Geesey in the evening. 

During the year 1915 the church building was remodeled 
at a cost of $3,261, all provided for. The present church was 
dedicated June 6, 1915. Rev. H. H. Weber, D. D., preached in 
the morning, Rev. F. G. Gotwald, D. D., preached the dedicatory 
sermon in the evening. 

The following pastors served this congregation: Rev. C. W. 
Baker and Rev. H. D. Newcomer, organizers, from June 10, 1896, 
to November 10, 1896; Rev. Daniel Lecrone, student, April 17, 
1897, to September 12, 1897; Rev. Moses Grossman, March 27, 
1898, to May 1, 1899; Rev. E. Manges, October 1, 1899, to June 
1, 1902; Rev. L. G. Stauffer, June 22, 1902, to November 11, 1906; 
Rev. Paul Gladfelter, May 1, 1907, to September 30, 1910; Rev. 
P. B. Fasold, September 1, 1911, to October 1, 1913; Rev. J. H. 
Keller, December 1, 1913, to December 31, 1915; Rev. F. Darwin 
Sutton, December 15, 1917, to December 15, 1918; Rev. B. F. 
Kautz, January 1, 1919, to April 10, 1921; Rev. John H. Lehn, 
student, May 1, 1921, to September 1, 1921; Rev. C. F. Jacobs, 
the present pastor, began his work November 1, 1921. 

Members of the present Church Council: Elders, Howard 
Warner, John Weitkamp and Elmer Markey; Deacons, Charles 
Wambaugh, John L. Ness and George L. Markey. 

Christ Evangelical Lutheran Sunday School of Spry was 
organized April 4, 1897, with 87 members. 

The sessions were held at 2 P. M. until 1905, when the time 
was changed to9 A. M. This was the beginning of the real 
erowth of the Sunday School and the Congregation. 

Mr. James M. Fuhrman served as Superintendent until 1903, 
the time of his death. | He was succeeded by Mr. Harry Ness, 
who served one year. Mr. Ness was succeeded by Mr. Elmer J. 
Markey, our present efficient Superintendent. Mr. Markey 
served in this capacity since 1904 with the exception of two 
years, 1917 and 1918, when John I. Keech was elected and served 
as Superintendent. Mr. Markey has the enviable record of six- 


YorRK CountTy CONFERENCE 579 


teen years of faithful service as Superintendent of Christ Luther- 
an Sunday School. 

The present Sunday School has an enrollment of 130, is well 
organized and throughly alive. 

The other organizations are a Junior Luther League, 20 
members; a Senior Luther League, 30 members; a Ladies’ Aid 
Society, 30 members, and a Literary Society 20 members. 


EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 
(Spry— Windsor Park Charge) 


Rev. C. F. Jacoss, Pastor 





EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, PARISH HOUSE AND PARSONAGE 
YORK eA 


The beginning of Emmanuel Lutheran Church was in 1900 
when the Waltman and Spangler Co. proposed to donate three 
lots located on the southwest corner of Franklin and Olive Streets 
for church purposes. Under the direction of the York County 
Missionary Committee these lots were secured by the Board of 
Church Extension for the Lutheran Church. 

Under the direction of this Committee a Sunday School was 
organized on October 5, 1902, at the home of Mr. Jacob Heiges 
on State Street. This Sunday School was soon removed to the 
School House on Franklin Street. Here preaching services were 
conducted by local Lutheran pastors until January 1, 1903, when 
the York County Missionary Committee appointed Rev. E. Len- 
hart as pastor. 

Rev. Lenhart immediately began to plan for the erection of 


580 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


a building. The lots on Franklin and Olive Streets were exchanged 
for lots on the corner of Windsor and Sherman streets. In the 
Spring of 1903 the erection of a church building was begun. The 
corner stone was laid on July 19, 1903, when the erection of the 
church building was well advanced. 

On account of repairs being made on the School House the 
Sunday School sessions were now conducted in the church, still 
in the process of building. Pastor Lenhart also conducted ser- 
vices here every Sunday evening. 

The building was completed about the first of November, 
1903, but on account of considerable debt still unprovided for the 
church was not dedicated until June 26, 1904. 

After the erection of the church, on November 26, 1903, a 
congregation was organized with forty-four charter members. 
Twelve of these are still members on January 1, 1924: Henry B. 
Heiges, W. F. Ensminger, Mrs. Kate L. Ensminger, Andrew M. 
Carlson, Mrs. Ida Buchmyer, Mrs. Elizabeth Fetrow, Mrs. Ellen 
Fetrow, Mrs. Alda Sipe, Mrs. Effie Almony, Mrs. Cora Sipe, 
William Stambaugh, Mrs. William Stambaugh. 

Rev. E. Lenhart served as pastor until September 1, 1904. 
On September 1, 1904, Rev. G. A. Livingston became pastor. Be- 
cause of the disadvantages under which he had to labor the growth 
of the Church and Sunday School were slow. Rev. Livingston 
continued to serve this congregation until September, 1913. 

Rev. 8. E. Herring became pastor, November 23, 19138. Dur- 
ing his pastorate on July 11, 1915, a pipe organ was dedicated. 
Rey. Herring served as pastor until December 26, 1915. 

Rey. J. H. Keller became pastor of this congregation in con- 
nection with Messiah congregation of York, January 1, 1916. Rev. 
Keller served this congregation until March 31, 1918. 

Rev. B. F. Kautz became pastor June 1, 1918, and from 
January 1, 1919, he served this congregation in connection with 
Christ Lutheran congregation, Spry, Pa. During his pastorate 
new pews were installed at a cost of one thousand dollars. Rey. 
Kautz served this congregation until the time of his death, April 
10, 1921. 

May 1, 1921, John Henry Lehn, a student from the Theolog- 
ical Seminary at Gettysburg, became the supply pastor and served 
until October 1, 1921. 

After the formation of a charge composed of Hmmanuel 
Lutheran of York and Christ Lutheran of Spry, Rev. C. F. Jacobs 
was called as pastor. He took charge November 1, 1921. A 
parsonage was purchased and fitted up with the conveniences. 
During the year 1922, a Parish House was erected at a cost of 
twenty-five hundred dollars. The membership on November 1, 
1921, was forty-nine. The present membership is 107; Sunday 
School enrollment 300, January 6, 1924. 


YORK County CONFERENCE 581 


CHRIST’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, STARVIEW, PA. 
(Starview Pastorate) 


Rev. L. G. STauFFrer, PAsStTor 


From Volume I, History of York Co., we learn that on Feb- 
ruary 29, 1822, Peter Hoover and Philip Hoover conveyed by 
deed 44 perches of land for a consideration of one dollar to Martin 
Ruby, Michael Bixler, Elder and Trustee of the German Reformed 
congregation, and Peter Moore and Valentine Shultz, Elder and 
Trustee of the Lutheran congregation. Upon this had already 
been erected a house of worship, known as Christ’s Church, to 
be used by the Lutheran and Reformed and Menists (Menonites) 
of the vicinity. By special requirement the services were to be 
conducted in the German language and no other; all services 
conducted in the church were to be held before candle-light. 
This church, because of age and location, is one of the land marks 
of East Manchester Township, and known locally as Hoover’s 
Church. 

When the first church building was erected is not definitely 
known; neither is the exact time of the organization of the Luth- 
eran congregation known; but generally supposed to have been 
organized during the year 1819. A charter was obtained in 1844. 

In the beginning this church was connected with what is 
now known as the Quickel’s Pastorate; later connected with the 
Manchester Pastorate; and in 1908 with two other churches the 
Starview Pastorate was formed. 

The following Pastors have served the church: Rev. J. G. 
Schmucker, Rev. A. Lehman, Rev. C. J. Deininger, Rev. Peter 
Riser, Rev. Peter Warner, Rev. Peter Anstadt, 1872-1879; Rev. 
Prmlenharie kev Wea pwLolr el oo2-LS02-ehey. wlie @. Bixler, 
1893-1901; Rev. M. 8. Romig, 1902-1904; Rev. 5. Herring, 1904- 
1908; Rev. Wm. Ketterman, 1909-19138; Rev. P. B. Fasold, 1913- 
1914; Rev. Paul Y. Livingston, 1914; Rev. A. Miller, 1914-1915; 
Reve Gr Ammlivingstons191o-1922¢ lee G sstauter. 1922 = = 


GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH, ROUNDTOWN, PA. 
(Starview Pastorate) 


Ray. L. G. STAUFFER, PASTOR 


In the Spring of the year 1892, the Rev. M. J. Alleman, who 
was then the Pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church of York, 
received permission to conduct services in the school building at 
Roundtown, three miles north of York. In July of the same year 


582 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


a congregation was organized consisting of twenty-six charter 
members. The congregation elected as its first Church Council, 
John Sharp and John Reeser, Elders; and Adam Smyser and D. 
E. Klinedinst, Deacons. This new congregation continued its 
services in the school house until the spring of 1893, when Mr. 
Samuel Small donated one acre of ground, also a liberal cash do- 
nation, with the understanding, however, that the church shall 
become a community church. Therefore, the property 1s owned 
jointly by Lutherans, United Brethren, Presbyterians and Evan- 
relicals. 

5 The following pastors have served: Rev. M. J. Alleman, Rev. 
P. Anstadt, Rev. H. C. Bixler, Rev. M. 8. Romig, 1902-1904; 
Rev. S. Herring, 1904-1908; Rev. Wm. Ketterman, 1909-1913; 
Rev. P. B. Fasold, 1913-1914; Rev. Paul Y. Livingston, 1914; 
Rev. A. Miller, 1914-1915; Rev. G. A. Livingston, 1915-1922; 
Rev. L. G. Stauffer, 1922 ; 








ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, MT. WOLF, PA. 
(Starview Pastorate) 


Rev. L. G. STAUFFER, PAasToR 


On the second Sunday in June, 1913, the first meeting was 
held looking forward toward the organization of a Lutheran con- 
gregation at Mt. Wolf. No organization was effected until 
July 26, 1914, when the church was organized with twenty mem- 
bers. The service was in charge of Paul Y. Livingston, then 
a member of the Junior Class in the Theological Seminary at 
Gettysburg. On August 30, 1914, the first communion was held 
by the Rev. Peter Livingston, of York. Rev. C. H. Stein supplied 
the church for a short time. In April, 1913, Rev. G. A. Livingston 
became the pastor of this congregation. In July, 1915, plans for 
a new church were presented and accepted. On August 16, 1915, 
eround was broken; and on November 7, the cornerstone was laid; 
and on September 10, 1916, the church was dedicated. The 
eround and church cost $7000.00. Since that time a new parson- 
age has been erected by this congregation, at a cost of $9800.00. 
After a brief history this congregation of 156 confirmed members, 
owns property valued at $17,000.00. 

By action of Synod this church was connected with the 
Starview Pastorate in 1914. Rev. L. G. Stauffer is the present 
pastor. 


YorK CouNTY CONFERENCE 583 


ST. MARK’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, EMIGSVILLE, PA. 
(Starview Pastorate) 


Rev. L. G. STAUFFER, PAsToR 


During the summer of 1895 the Rev. C. W. Baker, by direc- 
tion of the York Co. Missionary Society, visited Emigsville, Pa., 
and after canvassing the community found over one hundred 
members of the Lutheran faith. Arrangements were made to 
hold services in the Bethany Union Chapel. In this building a 
Union Sunday School had been conducted regularly for thirty- 
five years previous to the time of the organization of the congre- 
gation. As a result of Rev. Baker’s labor, a congregation was 
organized to which was given the name of St. Mark’s. This 
congregation worshipped in the Bethany Chapel with the Evan- 
gelical and United Brethren denominations. 

The St. Mark’s congregation obtained a charter in 1923, and 
have since purchased a plot of ground on the corner of Broad and 
Acme Streets. Plans and specifications have been prepared for 
the erection of a church to cost approximately $18,000 to $20,000. 

Rev. H. C. Bixler became the first Pastor. Since came Rev. 
M.S. Romig, 1902-1904; Rev. S. Herring, 1904-1908; Rev. Wm. 
Ketterman, 1909-1913; Rev. P. B. Fasold, 1913-1914; Rev. A. 
Miller, 1914-1915; Rev. G. A. Livingston, 1915-1922; Rev. L. G. 
Stauffer, 1922 ——. 


REV. Cc) Be V.CHESSE 
PASTOR OF THE ST. PAUL’S CHARGE 


Rev. C. F. V. Hesse, is the son 
of Dr. and Mrs. William Hesse, 
Martinsburg, W. Va. He was 
born on February 9, 1885, at 
Deer Park, Md. Huis early edu- 
cation was received in the public 
schools of Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
He was graduated from the 
Brookville High School in the 
class of 1905; Gettysburg College 
in the class of 1909, and the 
Gettysburg Seminary in the class 
of 1912. He was licensed to 
preach by the East Pennsylvania 
Synod at Lebanon in 1911, and 
was ordained by our West Penn- 
sylvania Synod at York in 1912. 
On April 2, 19138, he was married 
to Blanche Estella Bickel, daugh- 





584 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ter of Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Bickel, of Harrisburg, Pa. The mar- 
riage ceremony was performed in Christ Lutheran Church, Shrews- 
bury, Pa., by Rev. Hesse’s father. He was pastor of Christ 
Lutheran Church, Shrewsbury, Pa., from May, 1912, to July, 1918. 
After serving in the army as chaplain he became pastor of the Red 
Lion Charge, October, 1918. He closed his ministry at Red Lion 
November 30, 1922, and on the first of December began his work 
as the first pastor of the recently formed Saint Paul’s Charge. 





SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, JACOBUS, PENNA. 
(St. Paul’s Charge) 


Rev. C. F. V. Hessz, Pastor 


Five miles south of York, on the Susquehanna Trail a village 
called Jacobus, formerly known as New Paradise, is situated on 
the top of a broad and picturesque hill which rises in the north 
and west from the waters of Lake Wiliams. On the eastern slope 
of the hill, just outside the village, is located the property of the 
Salem Union Church. The history of this church is replete with 
many interesting incidents and the advances made during recent 
years have special significance. 





SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, JACOBUS, PA. 


For many years before there was any effort to establish a 
place of worship here, ‘The Old Graveyard,” a very small parcel 
of ground, was the common burial plot for any who wished to 
use it. In this plot a grave stone bears the inscription, 1695. 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 585 


‘This, we think, is a birth date. When the grave yard became too 
small and people tired of going to York and Freidensaal’s to wor- 
ship, the first move was made towards establishing a Lutheran and 
Reformed church. This was on October 24th, 1829, when John 
Hildebrand and Michael Hartman, the first a Reformed and the 
latter a Lutheran, acting as managers for the subscribers, pur- 
chased of Henry Ness an irregular plot of ground containing 4814 
perches. The consideration was five dollars. A southern corner 
stone of this plot may be described, at present, as standing near 
the northwest corner of the church about six feet east of the iron 
fence. The plot extended across the present road leading to 
Kreidler’s mil! and included some of the land that was occupied 
by the, “Old Graveyard.” On this plot of ground a school house 
was erected which also was to be used as a Meeting House. In 
this building Lutheran worship was conducted by Rev. P. Herman 
of Windsor. Hartman’s School House was the name by which 
this Meeting Place was known. 

Rev. P. Herman did not effect an organization, but preached 
on irregular and uncertain occasions. There were no offerings 
received at these services, but the preacher was given a small 
amount which was raised by individual subscriptions. 

A meeting was held in the schocl house, in 1838, for the pur- 
pose of improving these unsatisfactory conditions. Nothing was 
accomplished. In 1839 a similar meeting resulted in the decision 
to build a church. Lumber was furnished by enthusiastic ones, 
but the work could not be pursued as there was not a sufficient 
amount of money available. In 1841 a third meeting was called 
for the purpose of providing ways and means for the building of 
a church. Through the efforts of Henry Hess and Lewis Bupp 
some of the contributors increased their pledges by twenty-five 
dollars. This made it possible to undertake the work. A piece 
of ground, consisting of 32 perches, was bought on June 2, 1842. 
Joe Hartman, Daniel Hess and others were appointed as building 
trustees. These men employed Daniel Henry to construct a 
wooden building which was approximately 42 feet by 32 feet in 
size. The building was dedicated in the fall of 1842. Among 
those who were prominent in the work of building the church 
were, Daniel Hess, George Hartman, John Dehoff, John Glotter, 
John Becker, and John Barshinger. 

Rev. Kempfer, Rev. Reinecke, and Rev. Herman preached 
when they could in this church until 1853. But, the people were 
not satisfied with the great irregularity and uncertainty. Ac- 
cordingly, Henry Lentz was sent to Sadler’s church to secure, if 
possible, Rev. Constantine Jacob Dininger as the regular pastor 
of the Lutheran congregation. Rev. Dininger accepted, and added 
the Salem Lutheran congregation, as yet only loosely or tentative- 
ly organized, to his already large field, which included Sadler’s, 
Blymires, Freysville and others. 


586 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


When Rey. Dininger assumed charge on April 17, 1853, there 
were thirty-six members. Dr. Stump gives Rev. Dininger credit 
for having organized them as a 
congregation. The first confir- 
mation class numbered twenty- 
two, and from that time there 
was rapid numerical growth. 
Rey. Dininger’s charge was soon 
changed so as to be comprised 
of Salem, Ziegler’s, Wolf’s, Quick- 
el’s, Hoover’s (now Star View), 
Mount Zion, Locust Grove, and 
New Salem. Later he retained 
four of these churches and be- 
came the founder of Quickel’s 
Charge, consisting of Salem, 
Mount Zion, Quickel’s, and 
Wolt’s. 

Because of the limited burial 
Rev. C. J. DININGER space and for other reasons four 
more contiguous plots of ground 

were purchased. 

During the first twenty-nine years of the pastorate of Rev. 
Dininger the congregations, especially the Lutheran congregation, 
grew very rapidly, so that the church building no longer accomo- 
dated the people. A meeting for the purpose of providing ways 
and means for the building of a new church was held in January, 
1882. Samuel Hess, Henry Williams, and Isaac Hovis of the 
Lutheran congregation and Deiterich Glatfelter, Frank Dietz, 
and John Hildebrand of the Reformed congregation were appointed 
as a building committee. These men hired Henry Miller to fur- 
nish the masonry and Franklin Williams to do the carpenter work. 
The church, a brick structure of semigothic type, is sixty feet 
long and forty-five feet wide. The work was completed in 
December, 1882. The cost in money was $8025. Labor and 
materials were also contributed. Another -plot of ground, was 
bought from Lewis Bupp in order to provide a suitable entrance 
to the church. This was on December 22nd, and on the 25th of 
December the service of dedication was held. 


Rey. Dininger died January 21, 1885. At this time the con- 
eregation had about two hundred members. More concerning 
Rev. Dininger may be found in the history of Wolf’s church. 


Sometime between 1853 and 1863 the Union Sunday School 
was organized. John Snyder, who was not a member of either 
congregation, became the first superintendent of the school. For 
certain reasons the school did not long continue to meet in the 
church, but held its sessions in a school house on the Baltimore 





YorRK CouNnTY CONFERENCE 587 


pike. After some time it was found agreeable to conduct the 
work of the Sunday School in the church. 

From 1885 to 1890 Rev. J. Henry Leeser was the pastor. He 
is remembered as one who labored diligently. His pastorate was 
brought to a close by circumstances which are recorded elsewhere 
and which need not be spoken of in this connection. 

Rev. Adam Stump, D. D., became pastor October Ist, 
1890. The first sermon he preached in the Quickel’s Charge was 
delivered in the Salem church. 
It was a German sermon. The 
fact that Dr. Stump’s parents 
were in the audience afforded 
him a great deal of pleasure. 
Dr. Stump makes special men- 
tion of this. Since we have 
given a comprehensive sketch of 
Dr. Stump’s life in the Wolf’s 
history, we add here only a 
brief statement of facts concern- 
in his ministry in Salem church. 

During the celebration of his 
twenty-fifth anniversary as pas- 
tor of Salem congregation Dr. 
Stump mentions tho following 
accomplishments. During the 
period mentioned the benevo- Rev. Apam Stump, D. D. 
lence was tripled. The church 
was painted, papered, and carpeted twice. A substantial iron 
fence about five hundred feet in length was placed around a por- 
tion of the church property. The congregation invested $1158 in 
the parsonage of Quickel’s Charge. Yearly catechization was 
begun and continued. The liturgy of public worship was enriched. 
A new lighting system was installed. The old union treasury 
system was abolished and denominational treasuries were estab- 
lished. Individual communion cups were introduced, as were also 
the bi-pocket envelopes. A baptismal font was placed in the 
church by Charles A. Williams, as a memorial to his brother, 
John B. Williams, and his sister-in-law, Mamie Leader. The 
Women’s Missionary Society of the Lutheran congregation was 
organized May 4, 1913. The Light Brigade, under the leadership 
of Mrs. Carson Whorley, is the pride of the congregation. A 
Luther League, now defunct, was organized and did splendidly 
for awhile. The Salem Union Cemetery Company was organized 
and was incorporated August 21, 1911. We might say concern- 
ing this item that almost an untold amount of difficulty resulted. 
However, at the present time, all parties concerned, both of the 
Lutheran and Reformed congregations, seem to be satisfied with 
the arrangement. It is receiving the support of those who op- 





588 History OF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


posed it. Since the time of Dr. Stump’s Twenty-fifth Anniver- 
sary, Which was in October, 1915, several very important advances 
were made. The most important forward step was that of se- 
curing a charter which grants the congregation the right to conduct 
all its affairs according to the customs and usages of the Lutheran 
Church. The charter was granted September 8, 1919. A splen- 
did new church carpet and an electric lighting system were added 
to the furnishings of the church. Professor Paul Hildebrand was 
secured as the organist and choir leader of the two congregations. 

A new spirit of cooperation became evident and Dr. Stump 
was granted the privilege of seeing peace restored. When Dr. 
Stump’s death, March 18, 1922, concluded his long and fruitful 
pastorate Salem Congregation was stronger in many ways than 
she had been at the previous time. The love of a devoted people, 
Salem, Wolf’s, Quickel’s, and.Mount Zion was shown by the 
manner in which Dr. Stump was treated. The congregations 
provided the service of a nurse during his long illness and paid 
the expenses of the funeral, besides doing many other thoughtful 
services. No person, other than the present pastor, can have a 
true conception of the work Dr. Stump did in the large territory 
of Salem Church. Truly, it may be said of him, ‘‘He did a man’s 
work.” 

The establishing of the new Saint Paul’s Charge is recorded 
in the minutes of our Synod for 1922, page 84. This charge con- 
sisting of Wolf’s and Salem congregations extended a unanimous 
call to Rev. C. F. V. Hesse. After some delay Rev. Hesse accepted 
the call and began his work on the field, December Ist, 1922. The 
service of installation was conducted on Sunday, April 22, 1923, 
by the President of the Synod, Rev. George W. Nicely, D. D., 
who also preached the sermon. He was assisted by Rev. F. G. 
Gotwald, D. D., and by the pastor’s father, Rev. William Hesse, 
D. D. 

During the first year of the present pastorate the apportion- 
ment was paid in full for the first time in the history of the con- 
eregation. During the Summer of 1923 the church property was 
completely renovated. A twenty foot annex to the rear of the 
building was constructed, providing a suitable place for the choir, 
a church parlor, and a choir room. The construction also pro- 
vides ample space for the proposed new pipe organ. A modern 
steam heating system was installed. The exterior of the building 
was repainted and new concrete walks were laid. The interior was 
frescoed and the electric lighting system entirely rearranged. New 
mahogany altar furnishings were placed and all the interior wood 
work was finished in the same color. The pews were remodeled 
and arranged so as to provide a center aisle. An interesting co- 
incidence is the fact that J. B. Willams, our congregational 
secretary, Who had charge of the work of reconstruction, is a son 
of Franklin Williams who had charge of the work when the build- 


YORK COUNTY CONFERENCE 589 


ing was erected in 1882. The interior decorating, which is a real 
work of art, was done by Morgan F. Leader, President of the 
Church Council. 


Prior to the time when the present pastor assumed charge of 
the work, the congregation provided a parsonage fund of $5400. 
This was accomplished largely through the efforts of Charles A. 
Williams, J. H. Bupp, J. B. Williams, and Morgan F. Leader. 
The congregation is showing a wonderful enthusiasm in its work, 
and the future promises much in the way of faithful, conscientious 
service. 


So far as we know, the congregation has only one ministerial 
son, Rev. H. Allen Leader. 


Die CAUL Ss LUTHERAN CHURCH YORK COUNLY -PA: 
(St. Paul’s Charge) 


Rev. C. F..V. Hxssz,. Pastor 





ST. PAUL’Ss (WoOLF’s) LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK Co., PA. 


In 1763, when Wolf’s congregation was started on its career, 
York County was almost covered with thick forests. Only here 
and there was to be found a clearing with some primitive log 
buildings in the midst. York was just a small village. The 
customs and conditions of life were crude, and its luxuries were 
few. The circumstances demanded much hard toil and depriva- 
tion. As far as money was concerned, none were rich. Our 


590 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


fathers and mothers came to carve out homes in the wilderness 
because they were poor and oppressed. 

In 1763 there were but few churches in York County. York, 
Kreuz Creek, Hanover, Holzschwam, Glenville, Sherman’s, Shus- 
ter’s, the Presbyterians at Gwinston (Chanceford), and the Quak- 
ers at the north (Newberry) about exhaust the list. 

The name of this congregation is Saint Paul’s, and is so listed 
in the minutes of our Synod. However, the name by which it is 
known throughout the county is Wolf’s. No doubt the name has 
come down from the very beginning of the church, being derived 
from the Wolf family. Peter Wolf, an early settler, kept a tavern 
at the place where the well known Five Mile House is now located. 
The tavern seems to have given its name to the entire community. 
Perhaps Peter Wolf was a promotor and patron of the church. 
The church building is located. quite near to where the Spring 
Grove and Hanover road intersects the Lincoln Highway, five 
miles west of York. 

Gibson’s history of York County says, “‘In 1763 a congrega- 
tion was organized by Rev. Nicholas Hornell, then pastor of the 
First Lutheran Church at York, and a frame church was built.” 
Rev. Nicholas Hornell, a Swede, became pastor of Christ Church, 
York, in July, 1763. But we also know that Rev. Lucas Raus, 
the predecessor of Rev. Hornell, ceased preaching in Christ Church 
on April 38, 17638, and that he remained in the community, prac- 
ticing medicine, preaching, and organizing congregations until the 
time of his death in 1788. He organized the Lutheran congrega- 
tions at Dover, Freysville, Chanceford (St. Luke’s). He may have 
organized Wolf’s. At any rate he very likely preached there in 
a school house or a barn, as the custom then was, before the first 
sanctuary was erected. It is pretty certain that services of some 
kind were held in the community before 1763. 

The first baptismal book, which was bought in Philadelphia 
by Henry Butt in 1764, no doubt was the common church record 
for both the Lutheran and Reformed congregations. The name 
of the buyer, although the book is now in Reformed hands, as 
well as many of the surnames of the children, prove that the Luth- 
erans had part in the book. The Lutherans are not in possession 
of such a book except that which was begun by Rev. C. J. Din- 
inger in 1847. Another valuable historical document is a com- 
munion set which bears the date 1765. 

When the first church was built we do not know. But 
Gibson has the following item: “In 1762 two and one-half acres 
were purchased from Adam Ziegler for 5 lb 6 s 5d ($25.79).” The 
court house contains no such record. Gibson must have had the 
deed which now seems to be lost. 

The records of Strayer’s church state that on April 13, 1766, 
twenty-two people from Peter Wolf’s church were confirmed and 
that they communed in Dover. ‘The names are given. No doubt 


YorK County CONFERENCE 591 


the minister who performed this service and recorded the same 
was Lucas Raus. This can be explained by the fact that there 
was no pastor in York at that time. Rev. Hornell was living 
somewhere within half a mile of York (as it then was), but had 
demitted the ministry and, in fact, for certain reasons was not 
allowed to preach anywhere. The only preacher therefore that 
could have served at Wolf’s in 1766 was Lucas Raus. If he did 
not prepare the twenty-two for confirmation, then some now un- 
known school master must have done it. Such often was the case 
in those early times. If Lucas Raus did prepare the class, it is 
possible that he confirmed the same at Dover because there was 
no church building at Wolf’s. It was necessary to have grave- 
yards before it was possible to erect churches. We might observe 
that this has been the root of much evil and untold annoyance. 
The date of the first funeral is 1760 and the first infant baptism 
took place during the same year. 

The next preacher who was pastor at York, and also at 
Woltf’s, was Rev. John George Bager, the progenitor of the Baugh- 
ers. The Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz came to York in 1770 and 
remained during the period of the Revolution. It is supposed that 
he also officiated at Wolf’s. He preached until 1789. However, 
in 1783 Rev. Jacob Goering became assistant to Rev. Kurtz, 
whereupon the assistant took charge of Wolf’s church and con- 
tinued until his death in 1807. All the former ministers were 
born in Germany, but Goering was born in Chanceford Township, 
York Co. Rev. Adam Stump says that we never had an abler 
preacher. 

At this point we come upon the interesting fact that at one 
time Quickel’s and Wolt’s formed one charge and had their own 
pastor, when no doubt they had services at least every two weeks. 
This was from 1792-1795; when John George Schmucker was the 
catechist and preacher of these two old congregations. Schmucker 
went to Hagerstown, but upon the death of Goering returned to 
York County in 1809 and took charge of York, Quickel’s, Wolf’s, 
Holzschwam, Kreuz Creek, and Canadochly. Dr. Schmucker 
preached at Wolf’s until 1829 when his young assistant took 
charge of Wolf’s and Hoover’s (Starview). It is easy to observe 
that some of these periods of service overlap and that there were 
times when the congregation was without a pastor, at one time 
for a period of two years. The young assistant whom we men- 
tioned was Dr. Jonathan Oswald. 

The next preacher at Wolf’s was Rev. Andrew G. Dininger 
who continued his services until 1847, when his son, Rev. Constan- 
tine Jacob Dininger began his long ministry. There is to be found 
a brief though comprehensive historical sketch for each of the 
pastors in George R. Prowell’s History of York County. We feel, 
however, that Rev. C. J. Dininger, after a pastorate of thirty-six 
years, deserves special mention. Rev. Constantine Jacob Din- 


592 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


inger, son of Rev. Andrew G. Dininger, was born in Center Co., 
August 30th, 1822. He spent his childhood in East Berlin and 
took a short course at Gettysburg College and Seminary. He 
was licensed to preach in 1846 by our Synod at Hanover, and was 
ordained in 1848. The ordination took place at East Berlin, 
where his father lived at that time. He began his long pastorate 
at the age of thirty-one years. This was in the year, 1852. At 
one time his charge consisted of Quickle’s, Wolf’s, Paradise, Mt. 
Zion, Seven Valleys, Ziegler’s, Stoverstown, New Salem, and Star- 
view. He was the founder of Quickel’s Charge, as it was consti- 
tuted until the close of Dr. Stump’s pastorate. Dr. Stump says 
we have good reason for calling him the founder of Quickel’s 
Charge. When he began his work in the four churches there were 
only three hundred members and when he died in 1885 he had re- 
ported nine hundred and seventy. Dr. Stump gives him credit 
for having organized Mt. Zion and Salem (at Jacobus), as well as 
other congregations in the county. During his ministry the 
Wolf’s, Salem, and old Mt. Zion churches were built. Rev. Din- 
inger was a weak man physically. Yet by temperate habits and 
carefulness he was able to do a strong man’s work. He contracted 
his last sickness by sitting in a cold room, and died shortly after- 
wards, January 21, 1885. Dr. Alleman, Dr. Lilly, Rev. Conoway, 
and Rev. Herring acted as pallbearers at his funeral. He was 
an able and faithful pastor, and as a catechist had few equals. 
He was a plain, practical, and edifying preacher. His pastoral 
record contained the following items: infant baptisms, 3860; 
adult baptisms, 213; funerals, 1617; confirmations, 2118; marriages, 
1562; sermons, 4481; miles traveled, 86,500. 

Rev. J. Henry Leeser followed Rev. Jacob C. Dininger as 
pastor of Quickel’s Charge. He labored with efficiency for five 
years. He was compelled to leave the work because of charges 
that were brought against him. 

Rev. Adam Stump, D. D., became pastor of Quickel’s charge 
on October 1, 1890. His pastorate extended over a period of 
nearly thirty-two years. The arduous labors this faithful ser- 
vant of God performed can never be rightly valued by the recount- 
ing of material and numerical advances. When he ook charge 
of the work two thirds of the services, except the singing, was 
in German. The use of the German language was discon- 
tinued entirely before the close of his ministry. However, Dr. 
Stump addressed the fathers and mothers in German as they stood 
at the altar to commune. Dr. Stump gave the following state- 
ment in his parish paper on the occasion of his twenty-fifth anni- 
versary as pastor of the Charge. A new brick house and a frame 
barn were built for the sexton. The debt on the cemetery was 
paid and a new fence was built around the cemetery. The church 
was roofed with slate, painted and frescoed at a cost of $600. An 
alcove was constructed back of the pulpit at a cost of $200, and 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 593 


a heating plant was installed for $400. A library was es- 
tablished, and the pews were equipped with book racks, in which 
were placed a sufficient number of hymn books. <A parsonage was 
bought, Wolf’s share of which was $1170. An Estey organ was 
installed in 1915. The organ was valued at $2500, half of which 
was contributed by Andrew Carnegie. At the same time the 
building was enlarged at a cost of $1600 and a large parking space 
for machines was secured. The W. H. & F. M.S. and the Christ- 
ian Endeavor Society were organized. Improvements in Sunday 
School methods were introduced. ‘There was great advance in 
the music of the congregation and accordingly there has come 
about an enrichment of liturgy in the worship. Dr. Stump’s 
twenty-fifth anniversary was celebrated in the Wolf’s church on 
October 3, 1915, at which time Dr. Kuhlman preached the sermon. 
The Dedication Service for the consecration of the organ and the 
enlarged and renovated church building was held on June 138, 
1915. These, however, do not measure the far reaching influence 
of Dr. Stump’s ministry at Wolf’s. Through his pulpit ability 
and his constant pastoral activity he has left the indelible imprint 
of his strong Christian character in the hearts and minds of his 
people. 

Dr. Stump was born in York Township, York Co., Pa., 
July 7, 1854. His parents were Adam and Mary Stump. He was 
baptized and confirmed by Dr. August H. Lochman. He pre- 
pared for college at the York County Academy and entered Penn- 
sylvania College in 1874. He was graduated from the college in 
1878 and from our Seminary at Gettysburg in 1881. During the 
same year, 1881, he was married to Miss Emma O. Yount, and 
was ordained by our Synod at Hanover, September 11. He 
became pastor of the Rossville Charge, November 1, 1881, and 
served until 1883, when he became pastor of a newly formed 
charge composed of the York Springs and Dillsburg congregations. 
This work was continued until November 1, 1885, when he re- 
signed in order to accept a call as Home Missionary at North 
Platte, Nebraska. As we have said, Dr. Stump entered upon his 
long pastorate of the Quickel’s Charge, October 1, 1890. He 
remained the pastor of this charge until his death, March 18, 
1922. On page 66 of the Minutes of our Synod for 1922, Dr. A. 
G. Fastnacht gives a wonderful appreciation of Dr. Stump as a 
Christian scholar and preacher. The funeral service was held in 
St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, York, and was attended by 
former parishioners, friends from the city and county, and min- 
isters of our own and other denominations. The York Cadets, 
an organization of which he was chaplain and a trustee for many 
years, attended in a body and fired a salute over the grave. The 
York County Academy, of which he was a trustee and President 
of its Board, was represented by a delegation. In the unavoid- 
able absence of the President of Synod, Rev. C. E. Arnold, Treas- 


594. History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


urer of Synod, had charge of the services, and was assisted by 
Dr. W. E. Brown, pastor of St. Matthew’s, and by Dr. Sorber of 
the Reformed Church. Dr. A. G. Fastnacht preached. the ser- 
mon, using as the text, Matt. 11:26, “Even so, Father, for so it 
seemed good in Thy sight.” 

Dr. Stump leaves the following record of his pastoral activi- 
ties for the first twenty-five years of his work in Quickel’s Charge; 
sermons delivered, 1,842; addresses, 1,890; pastoral visits, 15,810; 
miles traveled by train, 9,969; by trolley, 5,241; by buggy, 65,356. 
During the entire pastorate he baptised 3,497 infants and 212 
adults; he confirmed 1,808. During the first twenty-five years 
he had 943 marriages and conducted 1282 funerals. Such state- 
ments may not mean much to our readers. However, we who are 
his successors 1n the now divided parish have a wonderful admira- 
tion for this man of almost superhuman labors. Dr. Stump is 
survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters. His youngest 
son, Raymond, is one of our Lutheran ministers. 

On page 84 of the minutes of our Synod for 1922 is recorded 
an action of Synod which divided the Quickel’s Charge, and 
formed what is to be known temporarily as the St. Paul’s Charge 
consisting of the Wolf’s and Salem (Jacobus) congregations. Rev. 
C. F. V. Hesse was extended a unanimous call by this Charge, and 
began his labors on December 1, 1922. The installation service 
was conducted by Rev. F. G. Gotwald, D. D., on Sunday, June 
10, 1923. During the summer of 1928 an electric ighting system 
was installed in the Wolf’s church, which work included the 
building of an electric line of considerably more than a mile. 
On Sunday, May 27th, 1923, Dr. H. H. Weber, in behalf of Mrs. 
J. J. Landis, presented to the congregation a beautiful marble 
baptismal font, a memorial to Mrs. Landis’ parents. Dr. Weber 
also preached the sermon on this occasion. For the first time in 
the history of the congregation the synodical apportionment was 
paid in full. The people manifest a wonderful enthusiasm in 
every department of the congregation’s life. On July 1, 1923, 
the bi-pocket envelope system was introduced, and is working 
well. A parsonage fund of nearly $4000 has been secured through 
the sale of the old Quickel parsonage and the gifts of the people. 
Pending the time when a suitable parsonage can be secured, the 
parsonage committee of the two congregations has housed the 
pastor in an elegant apartment at 1612 W. Market St., York, Pa. 

So far as we know, Rev. J. Winfield Gentzler is the only 
ministerial son of this congregation. 


YorkK CouNTY CONFERENCE 595 
ERINITY LUTHERAN® CHURGH, WRIGHTSVILLE, PA. 
Rive On Cal gel ANKE CASTOR 


1. ORGANIZATION. Rev. J. B. Christ made a preliminary 
missionary visit to Wrigbtsville, October 6th, 1851; though Luth- 
erans were in the town as early as 1800. It was found to be a 
field ready for the establishment of a congregation. Consequent- 
ly Trinity Lutheran Church was organized by Pastor Christ, July 
Lithwelso2s At. the efirst 
celebration of the Holy 
Communion, September 12, 
1852, eight more persons 
united with the congrega- 
tion. These added to the 
seventeen charter members 
made a membership © of 
twenty-five. Begun with 
the name of Trinity Luth- 
eran, that name is still 
held. 

2. THE PASTORS IN THE 
ORDER OF SeERvIcE. All 
have been regularly or- 
dained ministers of the 
gospel. The organizer, pas- 
tor Christ, resigned in 1853 
because of old age. The 
church was then vacant un- 
til the time of C. A. Baer, 
55-56; F. Ruthrauff, ’56- 
ose haby,os- 00; Le B: 
Berry, ’60-’63; Albert Mc- 
Laughlin, ’64-’66; J. M. 
Rice, ’66-’67; G. P. Weaver, 
67-71; L. K. Sechrist, ’72- 
19; 5. EH. Herring, ’75-’81; 
D. Stock, ’82-’86; W. H. 
Jordy, ’87-’89; John Bru- 
baker, ’90-’93; D. 8. Kurtz, 
94-01; Stewart W. Her- 
man, ’02-’03; Chas. Leon- 
ard, 03-07; G. W. Millar, 
07-17; Paul Y. Living- 
stony s-l/-20; ©.e Ms Cote 
felt, 20-24; O. C. F. Janke, TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 
725 —. WRIGHTSVILLE, Pa. 

By ALWAYS “A. PURELY 





596 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


LUTHERAN CONGREGATION. The congregation was organized in 
what was called the “Old Union Church.” This stood in those 
days in about the centre of the “Old Union Cemetery”’ on Chestnut 
Street. It was erected in 1817-18, and was occupied by the Pres- 
byterians and Methodists until 1829. In that year the Metho- 
dists built their own new church. The Presbyterians used the 
“Old Union Church” alone until 1847, when they erected their 
own house of worship. The “Old Union Church” was therefore 
abandoned. The Lutherans who had been in the town since 1800 
worshipped with the two named congregations until the Metho- 
dists withdrew, and then with the Presbyterians until there was ac- 
tually a Lutheran congregation in the town. Pastor Christ 
preached his first sermon March 6, 1852, in the abandoned edifice, 
and the organization was accomplished next July. This building 
was of that old type with a gh pulpit to which the preacher 
ascended by steps, galleries on both sides, and a stove in the 
centre. It was too old and ready for condemnation. Thus the 
Lutherans built their own church as soon as possible, 1853, and 
the “Old Union Church” was torn down in 1854. But as a con- 
gregation the church was never united with any other denomina- 
tion, and so was at no time a so-called ‘‘Union Church.” 

4. WoRSHIPPED IN Two CuHurcH BuiLpinas. The congre- 
gation really cannot be said to have occupied the “Old Union 
Church.’ It was only the temporary place of worship until they 
could become independent. ‘Therefore in 18538 the Lutherans 
began the erection of their own sanctuary. It was built of brick, 
was one story, had a prominent belfry, and was noted for a most 
beautiful gallery in the rear of the auditorium. It was completed 
early in the fall of 1854, and dedicated the next 7th of October. 
There was a heavy debt on the building. We have record of a 
meeting Saturday evening, July 3, 1858, when the congregation 
decided to liquidate the whole or a part of $3,352.16 in order to 
keep the church from falling into the hands of the sheriff. De- 
liverance from the danger was achieved, and by all accounts they 
finished paying the debt by April the 1st, 1865. A resolution was 
taken November 8th, 1864, to cancel the debt by that time, and 
no further mention is made of it. That building was located on 
Chestnut Street about one hundred and twenty-five feet east from 
the ‘‘Old Union Cemetery”’ between Second and Third. 

On April 28, 1870, the church was struck by lightning. The 
stroke consumed the belfry, and the freshly painted building was 
soon a mass of flames. The bell dropped in pieces from the bel- 
fry and the whole edifice was demolished. The membership im- 
mediately took steps to erect a new and more commodious place 
of worship. The present church on Hellam Street facing Third 
was the outcome. The lecture rooom was finished and occupied 
in October, 1871, and the entire building completed and dedicated 
October 24, 1875. The last dollar of debt was paid on this present 


YorK CouNTY CONFERENCE 597 


structure April Ist, 1882. In 1902 the annex was built in the rear 
of the church for the purpose of conducting the Primary Sunday 
School, for which all expenses were met. The necessary repairs 
and improvements have been made from time to time. The 
parsonage at 228 Locust Street was purchased in 1913 at a cost 
of $2800. A pipe organ was added to the material equipment. 
The purchase was made in September, 1919, and paid in February, 
1920. The sum was $3,500, and it is of the very best in tone 
quality. The parsonage and the church are both of brick. There 
is no debt, and at this writing the congregation is renovating the 
church auditorium. 

5. Not ALWAYS A SEPARATE CONGREGATION. From the 
beginning the congregation was a mission, receiving help from the 
Home Missionary Society. After Pastor Christ resigned in 1853 
there was no pastor until 1855, when C. A. Baer was elected. 
When F. Ruthrauff took charge in 1856, he served Marietta in 
conjunction with Wrightsville. In 1858 P. Raby did the same 
thing until he resigned April Ist, 1860. At that time steps were 
taken to have one pastor serve Wrightsville, Canadochly, and 
Kreutz Creek. Rev. Oswald served the two latter congregations 
from York at that time. It ended in Wrightsville and Kreutz 
Creek being constituted a Charge. For fifteen years until 1875 
these two churches formed a charge. But in 1875 Wrightsville 
was placed alone to be one church with one pastor, and self- 
supporting. The Home Missionary Society has rendered no 
assistance since that time, and Trinity Church has provided its 
own support. 

6. A Missionary To Arrica. We know of no ministers, 
ministers’ Wives, or deaconesses going forth from this parish: 
but one pastor, Rev. J. M. Rice, volunteered to go to Africa as a 
missionary in 1867, after he had served Wrightsville one year. 

7. Tuer BrBLE ScHOOL, Missionary, BROTHERHOOD, AND 
OTHER Societies. The first jot about the Sunday School which 
we find is that in 1867 there was a fine, flourishing Sunday School 
of possibly a hundred or more members. The congregation was 
not organized from a previously existing Bible School, as is often 
the case. The Lutherans were first organized into a congregation 
and the Bible School came some months later. The facts point 
to the conclusion that the School had its inception during the 
pastorate of Rev. J. B. Christ, ’52-’53, most probably about the 
time the first Lutheran church was built. It must have been the 
Bible School which kept the congregation together for two years, 
when they did not have a pastor until 755. And since 1867 the 
enrollment has more than doubled, for there are 235 entered. 
The School has always been of the greatest help to the church. 
In 1914 there were over 300 on the roll, which is the highest number 
ever attained. Deaths and removals have been the cause of the 
decrease. From 1914-1917 a total of 50 were lost. The town 


598 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


itself has decreased in population during the last ten years. The 
war had its effect in attracting young men to the cities, and the 
influenza epidemic gathered its harvest. And yet since 1917 we 
have managed to add sufficient scholars to counteract the losses. 
So far in 1920 there is a noticeable excess in the average attendance 
over that of last year. 

The Missionary Society was organized in 1913, and has been 
of the greatest aid in creating missionary spirit and spreading 
knowledge concerning the Home and Foreign fields. It holds 
inspiring meetings. The membership has increased slightly dur- 
ing the last year. This is July, 1920. 


The Senior Luther League was formed in 1909. Soon they 
were supporting a native worker in the foreign field, contributing 
to the Loysville Orphans’ Home, and working to have Wrights- 
ville raise the apportionment. They succeeded in this last project 
about six years ago, and it has been done regularly ever since. 
The society grew to be the largest one in York County. 


The Junior Luther League has also been energetic. The 
Junior Catechise has been held in conjunction with it for some 
time. 


An Aid Society has rendered great service for many years. 

A Brotherhood was started in February, 1920, is chartered, 
and is doing active work. ‘There are over twenty-five members. 

In the recent World War 389 of the congregation’s most 
stalwart youth wore the khaki. It was the largest number of 
any church in town. At the present time one of our young men, 
Chas. Reisinger, is at the head of Wrightsville’s American Legion. 
The church was fortunate in that none were killed in action and 
only two were wounded. We had one Y. M. C. A. Secretary, 
Caleb Drenning, who is the active President of the Brotherhood. 
Mrs. Harry Wood is President of the Woman’s Home and Foreign 
Missionary Society; Mr. John Ellwein, Superintendent of the 
Bible School; Arthur Ellwein is President of the Luther League; 
Miss Elizabeth Weitzel has charge of the Junior Luther League; 
Miss Elizabeth Able is President of the Ladies’ Aid Society; 
Girl Scouts were recently organized; and as a whole the congre- 
gation is flourishing. 


CHAPEL OF THE ADVENT, YORK, PA; 


Since Easter, 1924, Sunday Schools have been conducted in 
the school buildings of Elmwood and East York, under the aus- 
pices of the Committee of the York County Lutheran Conference. 
A previous canvass had been made by the Rev. W. C. Erney, 
in behalf of the Committee. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 599 


At the fall meetings of the Lutheran Synod of West Penn- 
sylvania and of the York County Conference, provision was made 
for the purchase by the Conference of a portable Chapel for 
suitable housing of these two schools. 

A suitable lot was purchased in trust for the future congre- 
gation; and the Chapel, which was dedicated December 14, 1924, 
was ordered and very expeditiously erected and furnished. Ground 
was broken Sunday, November 23, 1924; Revs. F. G. Gotwald, 
D. D., and W. C. Erney officiating. 








CHAPEL OF THE ADVENT, YORK, PA. 


The combined Schools assembled in the first session in the 
new Chapel, December 7th. 

Mr. Reinhart Dempwolf of the Conference Committee was 
retained as Treasurer. 

On December 21, 1924, the following officers of the Sunday 
School were elected: Superintendent, Mr. P. A. Elsesser; As- 
sistants, Mr. T. G. Pritchard and Mr. Paul Gotwalt; Secretary, 
Mrs. Katharin Mixon; Treasurers, Mr. Benjamin H. Bush, 
Benevolent Treasurer and Mr. George W. Hess, General Treas- 
urer. Sunday School has been held regularly at 2.380 P. M. and 
Vespers at 7.00. 

The Committee named the Chapel in honor of the season 
when it was dedicated: “THe CHAPEL OF THE ADVENT.” 

May God ever prosper 
His Word in this place. 


600 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 
REV. H. M. BOWER 


Pastor or AuGsBURG LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, Pa. 


Rev. H. M. Bower was born 
February 15, 1886, near the 
town of Montoursville, Pa. 
Graduated from the High School 
at Hughesville, Pa., 1904; from 
Gettysburg College, 1908; and 
the Theological department of 
Susquehanna University, 1911. 
He has served the following pas- 
torates: Fort Washington, High- 
spire, Pine Grove, St. Peter’s, 
Easton, Messiah-Augsburg, York 
and Augsburg. Married Miss 
Mary. Wolf, Mt. - Woll, Pas, 
September, 19C9. 





AUGSBURG LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 
Rv. H. M. Bowsir, Pastor 


A Sunday School, fostered by Rev. F. G. Gotwald, D. D., 
was organized and named Mount Olivet. The first meetings were 
conducted in a building at the corner of Cottage Place and New- 
berry Street. Mr: Lester Bahn was the first superintendent. 
Services subsequently were conducted at 635 Jessop Place. 

February 18th, 1917, under the leadership of Rev. F. Darwin 
Sutton, a congregation was formed, with twenty charter members. 
The Rev. Mr. Sutton was chosen the first pastor. 

The following members were elected as the first council: E. 
H. Shirey, Jas. A. Gallatin, J. E. Diehl, Harry W. Fishel, elders; 
Allen C. Goodling, J. Bruce Ketterman, Walter L. Berkheimer, 
Jacob Bates, deacons. 

The congregation was known as The Mount Olivet Lutheran 
Mission. 

At a council meeting held April 13th, 1917, it was decided to 
purchase the lot on the southeast corner of Cottage Place and 
Manor Street, upon which a chapel was to be erected when con- 
venient. 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 601 


By vote of the congregation, on May 13th, 1917, the name 
was changed from Mount Olivet to Augsburg. This change in 
name was made largely at the suggestion of Rev. F. G. Gotwald, 
D. D., during the quadra-centennial celebration of the Augsburg 
Confession. 


The ground-breaking service was conducted July 7, 1918, at 
2:30 P. M., the Rev. George W. Nicely, of St. Mark’s Lutheran 
Church, Hanover, Pa., making the chief address. 

The cornerstone was laid September 1, 1918, Revs. Adam 
Stump, D. D., M. R. Hamsher, C. E. Arnold and Paul 8S. Wagner 
being the speakers. 





AUGSBURG LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Dedicatory services were held January 26, 1919. Rev. H. 
H. Weber, D. D., General Secretary and Treasurer of the Board 
of Home Missions and Church Extension of the United Lutheran 
Church in America, made the dedicatory address. 

A lot to the south of the church was purchased April Ist, 
1920, upon which to erect a parsonage. 

The first pastor of Augsburg, Rev. F. Darwin Sutton, resigned 
January 9, 1921, to take effect January 31, 1921. 

A call was extended Rev. H. M. Bower, Easton, Pa. April 
10, 1921, the present pastor conducted his first service. 

The installation service was conducted June 26, 1921. The 
Rev. G. Albert Getty, D. D., pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, 
York, Pa., delivered the charge to the congregation in the Augs- 
burg Church. The Rev. H. B. Stock, D. D., Carlisle, Pa., Presi- 
dent of the West Pennsylvania Synod, gave the charge ‘to the 
pastor at the evening service in the Messiah Church, and performed 
the act of installation. 

January 29, 1922, at the third anniversary service, sufficient 


602 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


funds were received to make the church building free of debt. 
Thus in three years’ time $11,000 of indebtedness was paid. 

The congregation, on February 4th, 1922, voted to build a 
parsonage and an addition to the church building and make other 
improvements, to take care of the growing needs of the Church 
and Sunday School. The Board of Home Missions and Church 
Extension approved and operations were begun at once. The 
total cost of these improvements are about $7,500. 

September 24th, 1922, the congregation authorized the church. 
council to purchase a motorized reed organ. 





PARSONAGE OF AUGSBURG LUTHERAN CHURCH | 

The beautiful painting is a gift, unsolicited, from Mr. and 
Mrs. F. Marion Dyer, Mr. Dyer being the artist. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hammond Pfleiger have donated the choir loft decorations. 

The dedication service for the improvements and enlargements. 
was conducted October 29th, 1922. The Rev. H. H. Weber, D. 
D., delivered the address. $3400 in cash and pledges were raised. 
The Pastor performed the rite of dedication upon the following 
objects: Tower and bell, Primary room, Choir room, Motorized 
Reed Organ, Painting—Jesus at the Home of Martha and Mary, 
Choir Loft decorations, and Parsonage. 

The above improvements cost about $1400 over the mort-. 
gvage indebtedness of $7500. Practically all of this has been paid 
off during this present year. Since the above improvements were: 
made the “Men of Augsburg’? assumed the cost of having the 
walls frescoed. Brussels carpet also will be placed before and 
within the chancel and in the aisles. 

The Communicant membership is 140. The Sunday School 
numbers 190 with an average attendance of 1388. Recently a 
Brotherhood and a Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary 
Society have been organized. Augsburg became a_ separate: 
Charge February 4, 1923. 


YorK CounTy CONFERENCE 603 
REV= WALTHRe HENRY TRAUB; D. D. 


PASTOR OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, Pa. 


Walter Henry Traub, son of 
August and Catharine Brokst 
Traub, was born July 11, 
1887, at Sunbury, Pennsyl- 
vania. Hecompletedthe 
course in the public schools of 
that place, graduating from 
the High School in 1904. 
After spending two years in 
the office of the Converting 
Works of the Susquehanna 
Silk Mills, he entered Susque- 
hanna University, graduating 
from college in 1910 with the 
degree of A. B., and three 
years later from the Theolog- 
ical Seminary. He was or- 
dained May 4, 1913, at Dan- 
ville, Pa. 

During his last year in the Seminary Mr. Traub supplied St. 
John’s Lutheran Church, Bellefonte, Pa. His first charge was at 
State College, Pa., where he spent five years as pastor of Grace 
Church. While in State College he took a post-graduate course 
at the Pennsylvania State College, receiving the degree of A. M., 
in 1917. On June 19th of this year he was married to Miss Ruth 
N. Paul, an active worker in St. Luke’s Lutheran Church at 
Williamsport, Pa. 

Rev. Traub assumed the pastorate of Trinity Church, Hughes- 
ville, Pa., March 3, 1918. Nearly,seven months of his first year 
were spent with the National War Work Council of the Y. M. C. 
A., as Religious Secretary at Camp Upton, L. I., N. Y. 

On June 11, 1922, he received a call to the pastorate of 
Christ Lutheran Church, York, Pa., which he accepted and 
entered upon his service here on July 23, 1922. 








GER Ses UEC EE AINS CEU GC Ley OR Kos DAS 


Reve WADTER HelRause D&D. PASTOR 


Human affairs have a way of springing into being from such 
small and obscure beginnings that we are apt to place all begin- 
nings in the same category. Such, however, is not the case. ‘In 


604 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” is a record 
of something special and tremendous. And no oreater mistake 
could be made than that of emphasizing the lowly circumstances 
of the birth of Jesus to the neglect of the choir of attending angels. 
Jean Paul Richter speaks of the life of Jesus as concerning Him 
who “lifted with His pierced hand empires off their hinges, and 
turned the stream of centuries out of its channel.” Lutherans 
are sometimes censured for looking backward, but it is surely a 
just pride that lifts our eyes to the man of whom Phillips Brooks 
speaks as the hinge on which the door of the Reformation swung. 





CurRIstT LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


From such a beginning it will always be interesting to trace the 
onward sweep of a mighty adventure in faith. How the seeds 
of this sowing were carried across the sea, fell upon good ground, 
and produced the hundredfold of the Lutheran Church in America 
opens a fresh chapter in the history of Lutheranism. 

The mournful condition in which the Lutheran settlers scat- 
tered here and there throughout America found themselves is set 
forth in an appeal dated January 28th, 1734: ‘We live in a land 
full of heresy and sects. We are in the utmost poverty of soul, 
and are unable to rescue ourselves by our own means, if God does 


YorK County CONFERENCE 605 


not show us help and means from another place. The great 
number of young people growing up are miserably to be wept for, 
who know not which is left or right, and on account of the want 
of churches and schools, it is to be feared, if help does not soon 
come, the most of them might be led into grievous ways of error. . . 
We care nothing about rearing stately buildings; if we only had 
so much that we could put up houses in some places in this land, 
in which we could regularly meet to praise and magnify our God, 
and instruct the youth.” The court preacher Ziegenhagen sent 
this letter from the congregation in Philadelphia to a certain 
preacher in Hanover with an impressive recommendation closing 
as follows: “Reverend sir, have compassion on the perishing lambs 
and sheep of Christ in America, and help, that they may speedily 
be revived. Though I have not as yet means in hand, I will 
venture also in the name of the Lord, to send to different congre- 
gations in America a number of Bibles, New Testaments, prayer 
and hymn books, catechisms, and A B C books.” 

It may not be possible to determine the exact time of the 
first settlement of the lands on the Codorus, adjacent to the 
present location of York, but it is certain that there was no large 
number of settlers before the Fall of 1731. The first Record of 
the Lutheran Church on the Codorus, begun in September, 1733, 
contains the names of twenty-four persons, all males. who con- 
tributed to the purchase of the record book; of these twenty-four 
we know the date of arrival in America of at least sixteen, only 
four of whom arrived at Philadelphia before 1731, six arrived in 
the Fall of 1731 and six in the Fall of 1732. Of the heads of 
families whose names are entered in the Baptismal Register be- 
fore the year 1741, the date of arrival at Philadelphia of forty-nine 
is known, of whom five came in 1727, two in 1728, one in 1730, 
eleven in 1731, twenty-two in 1732, six in 1733 and two in 1734. 
Glossbrenner and Carter’s History of York County says that the 
first authorized settlement was made in 1729, on Kreutz Creek, 
by John and James Hendricks. One of the same name, Tobias 
Hendricks, was among the founders of this congregation. The 
date of their arrival clearly shows that the first members were not 
in America before the Fall of 1731 and that in the Fall of 1733 
they were settled here. 

In the month of September 17383, the Lutherans in this neigh- 
borhood were visited by the Rev. John Caspar Stoever and 
gathered into a Congregation under the name of “Die Evangelisch- 
Lutherische Geminde an der Kathores,”’ (The Evangelical Luth- 
eran Congregation on the Codorus). A church record was pur- 
chased, on the fly-leaf of which the names of twenty-four persons 
are entered who contributed to the purchase of the book. In 
this Record were begun the entries of the baptisms and marriages 
performed by Pastor Stoever. There is no record of burials until 


606 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


in 1748 by Rev. J. H. Schaum, nor is there in this book any record 
of confirmations and communions. 

John Caspar Stoever was born December 21, 1707, in the 
Upper Province of the Electorate of Hesse, now in the Hessian 
Province of Prussia, at the city of Franckenberg on the Edder, a 
branch of the Fulda which empties into the Weser. He was the 
son of Dietrich Stoever, Burger and merchant and Magdalena, 
daughter of Rev. Andrew Eberwein, pastor at Franckenberg. In 
his youth Stoever went to Anweiler on the eastern slope of the 
Haardt Mountains in the Rhenish Palatinate to teach, taking 
with him most favorable testimonials as to his honorable birth 
and excellent character, signed by the elders of the church at 
Anweiler. Here he taught school and was organist and probably 
studied with a view to the ministry. In 1728 he sailed from Rot- 
terdam with 90 Palatines on the ship James Goodwill, David 
Crocket, master, left Deal, England, June 15, and landed at Phil- 
adelphia, September 11, 1728. His name is entered on the ship’s 
register as Johann Caspar Stoever 8. 8. Theol. Stud., Sacro- 
Sanctae Theologiae Studiosus. He spent his first year in this 
country in the vicinity of the Trappe in Montgomery County, 
but in May, 1730, he was settled in Lancaster County on the upper 
waters of the Conestoga. He was not an ordained minister at 
this time, nor does it appear that there was one in our church in 
all Pennsylvania with the exception of the Swedish pastors. It 
must be remembered that it was twelve years prior to the coming 
of Muhlenberg and there was no one to examine and ordain. The 
people were without ministration of the sacraments except as 
baptism was administered in case of need by laymen. Under 
these circumstances with the wish of the people, Mr. Stoever 
began to serve as pastor the Lutherans in Lancaster and Berks 
counties. 

In September, 1732, Rev. John Christian Schultze arrived 
and became pastor of the three congregations, Philadelphia, 
Providence, and New Hanover, by which Muhlenberg was after- 
wards called. In December he visited Stoever, and in May, 
1733, when he was sent to England and Germany to secure min- 
isters and money for the relief of the Lutherans in Pennsylvania, 
he prevailed upon Mr. Stoever to take charge of his congregations. 
Mr. Stoever was ordained by Rev. Mr. Schultze at Providence, or 
the Trappe, in the place of worship of the congregation there, 
which was a barn fitted up for their use. He continued there 
until September when he returned to Lancaster county and reg- 
ularly opened church records for the congregations he had organ- 
ized at Mode Creek, New Holland, Lancaster, and at North Kall 
and probably Tulpehocken in Berks county. He continued to 
visit Schultze’s congregations from time to time, but he resided 
near New Holland from that time on for many years, until he 
moved to the Swatarn in Lebanon county where he lived until 


YorRK CouNtTy CONFERENCE 607 


his death May 13, 1779, after having organized nearly all the 
older congregations from New Holland to the North Mountain 
beyond Lebanon. 

In the same month in which he returned to Lancaster county 
after his ordination, he visited the Lutherans west of the Susque- 
hanna. He at once gathered them together and formed a congre- 
gation. What the precise form of organization was is not known 
exactly, but there can be no doubt whatever that they were 
regularly organized in September, 1733, by the election of elders 
and vorsteher. The other congregations he had organized all had 
them. It is not probable that there was any building erected 
as a church at the outset. The members were few, widely scat- 
tered, and as yet only beginning to get hasty shelter arranged for 
their families. They probably met in the houses of the members. 
They were among the first regular settlers in the county. The 
first survey preparatory to the laying out of the town of York’ 
was made October, 1741, and there was not at that time one house 
within the future limits of the borough. From the entire district 
along the Codorus the members were gathered together to form 
this first Lutheran church west of the Susquehanna. 

For nearly ten years Mr. Stoever continued regularly to visit 
and minister to this congregation and the entries of his baptisms 
show him to have had services ordinarily once a month. Until 
the close of 1742 there is not an entry except in his own hand; 
during his pastorate he baptised 191 persons and married 34 
couples. Mr. Stoever’s pastorate ended in April, 1748. In Febru- 
ary, March and April the congregation was visited by another pastor 
who from his entries I should think was an aged man well trained 
in record entries. It was not Valentine Kraft as the writing is 
unlike his in the Providence records. 

It seems that Mr. Stoever found his field of labor too large 
to be well cared for, and also that many settlers who had gone 
beyond York to the Conewago and Monocacy needed to be looked 
after and organized into congregations, and therefore sought some 
one who would be settled beyond the Susquehanna and the one 
found and put in his place was Candler. The reasons for this 
conclusion are that Pastor Stoever’s pastoral acts continue un- 
broken until April 28, 1748, on which day he baptizes for the last 
time and on that same day Pastor Candler’s baptisms began. 
Whether Mr. Candler was at that time an ordained minister or 
not is unknown as no trace has been found of him before that 
date, except that he was married and had several children, whose 
names he entered in the church record at Hanover after he had 
begun it. But if not before ordained, he was without a doubt 
ordained by Stoever, probably on April 28, and it is possible that 
the other pastor who visited about that time united in the ordina- 
tion. Pastor Candler did not settle in York but on the Conewago 
about one mile southwest of where Hanover now stands, where 


608 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


in May of the same year he began to gather a congregation and 
provided a place of worship for them in the house built for him. 
He also began to minister to the congregation on the Monocacy 
about ten miles this side of Frederick and he organized that at 
Frederick, all in 1743. His charge reached from the Susquehanna 
to the Potomac and he took up his residence in the centre of the 
field. In this congregation he set himself very diligently at work 
in hunting up and gathering in the new settlers; in 1743 there 
were 70 children baptised. All that I have found about him has 
left a very favorable impression as to his character. His son 
David. who was born May 6, 1740, and married here in 1760 to 
Catharine Dinkle, was a prominent and esteemed citizen and 
member of the church. Unfortunately Pastor Candler’s health 
soon failed, and after May, 1744, there is no entry made by him. 
In December, 1744, he died and was buried in the graveyard at 
his own residence near Hanover, the burial service being con- 
ducted by Rev. Lars Nyberg who had just before taken charge 
of the Lutheran Church at Lancaster. In 1744 the first log 
church was erected on the ground secured by the Lutheran Con- 
eregation and occupied by them ever since then. An amusing 
anecdote is related in connection with the securing of the lot. 
It seems that Wiliam Penn who gave the ground on which both 
the Reformed and Lutheran churches were built, desiring to be 
absolutely impartial, stipulated that the congregation first on the 
eround on a certain date might have first choice. The Reformed 
people arose very early and repaired to the more desirable site 
with the first streaks of dawn. But they found that their Lutheran 
brethern had stolen a march on them by staying up all night and 
beginning to dig the foundation at midnight. Whether any log 
church had been erected in Mr. Stoever’s time at some point in 
the country is uncertain but it 1s exceedingly probable that ser- 
vices had been held regularly once a month for ten years, and a 
log church in the simple style of the pioneers could easily have 
been erected by the members at little cost, but it was not located 
where York now stands; when the town had been laid out and 
lots began to be taken up, one was secured for the purpose, and 
on it the first Lutheran church in the limits of the town plot was 
erected in 1744. The date of its consecration is unknown, but 
we hope that the declining strength of the pastor lasted long 
enough to allow him to witness the bappy results of his labors and 
see completed the church in which beside its pastors, Muhlenberg, 
Brunholtz, Handschuh, Kurtz would preach as visitors. At the 
burial of Pastor Can ler at the Conewago church in December, 
1744, many persons were present from all congregations of the 
charge and having heard Nyberg preach, an arrangement was 
made then or soon afterward, that he should take temporary 
charge of them and should secure from Sweden an Evangelical 
Lutheran minister who would become their pastor. Rev. Law- 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 609 


rence (Lars) Thorstansen Nyberg was a Swede, who after having 
studied civil engineering made some study of theology. In inter- 
course with David Gradin he had accepted the Moravian views 
and desired to become connected with that body. He was en- 
gaged as tutor by a Swedish Count when he heard that a call 
from Lancaster for a minister had been sent. He applied with 
recommendations from the Count to be sent out and was ordained 
and was sent as pastor to Lancaster. He began at once, not only 
at Lancaster but at York, Conewago, Monocacy and wherever he 
labored, to lay plans to carry the congregation over to the Mo- 
ravians and near the close of 1745 called a Moravian Conference 
at Lancaster. In 1746 a Moravian Synod was held at Kreutz 
Creek. Nyberg brought two Moravian Missionaries from Beth- 
lehem and tried to settle one as pastor of the Lutheran church at 
York and the other at Monocacy. But the eyes of the majority 
of the members were now fully opened and they locked the doors 
on him in all the Lutheran churches from York to Frederick. 
(Halle Reports, pp. 69-75, 189, 233-244.) 

Among the most steadfast opponents of the Moravian efforts 
was the old schoolmaster of the Lutheran church of York, Bar- 
tholomaeus or Barthel Maul. It was agreed that services should 
be regularly held and he read a sermon for the congregation and 
carefully instructed the young in the catechism, so that they 
might be confirmed by some worthy Lutheran Pastor. 

After the majority of the congregation had come to a final 
decision against Nyberg, they applied to the united Lutheran 
Ministers sent out from Halle and asked them to be received into 
connection with them, to be supplied by them with a pastor and 
to be visited and eared for until they received a pastor. In answer 
to this application Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg visited York 
in May, 1746, for the first time (Halle Reports, p. 189.) He came 
from Lancaster where an important step had just been taken. 
Nyberg had caused the leaders of the Lutherans who locked the 
church on him to be arrested, and the court had discharged them; 
they had just taken possession of their church in which Muhlen- 
berg had preached and taken that congregation into connection 
with the United Ministry and congregations. The account of 
his visit to York is very brief both in the Halle reports and in his 
diary. Hesays that the congregation consisted of one hundred and 
ten families; he baptised a number of children, and confirmed 
those whom the schoolmaster had instructed. In the February 
preceeding Rev. Mr. Naesman, the Swedish pastor at Philadelphia, 
had visited York and baptised several children which baptisms 
were entered in his own handwriting. Unfortunately it was not 
in the power of the United Ministers to send any one to take 
charge at York. There were as yet only two of them, Muhlenberg 
and Brumholtz, with two catechists, Kurtz and Schaum, and 
many appeals were made to them for services. So the strife at 


610 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


York went on. The Moravian party was very active and the 
Lutherans had only schoolmaster Maul to read a sermon for them, 
but services were held regularly. Nyberg would seem not to 
have had access to the church record. The only entries made 
by him are on November 11, 1744, before the death of Candler. 
In 1745 there are only four baptisms entered and in 1746 only 20, 
of which four were by Naesman, February | and 9, three at the 
time of Muhlenberg’s visit, May 8, though entered by the school- 
master, and three October 14, when they probably had another 
visit, but from whom it is uncertain. 

In June, 1747, Muhlenberg again visited York and also went 
to Conewago, Monocacy and Frederick, and in all these places 
tried to encourage hope and restore order. Of this visit he has 
given full account in his diary most of which is given in the Halle 
reports, pp. 231-245, 69-75. He presents so interesting and in- 
structive an account of the condition of affairs, and so beautiful 
an evidence of his own faithfulness and wisdom in dealing with 
men and with strife that one cannot do better than quote from it. 

“June 21, 1747. In the afternoon we rode from Lancaster 
twenty-two miles and in the night reached the newly laid out 
town called York. Some of the people came together in the 
middie of the night and rejoiced at my arrival and expected that 
the Lord’s supper would be administered to them on the following 
Sunday, as it had been promised them. I was now in the district 
in which the Lutheran congregations had commissioned Mr. Ny- 
berg, when they had still supposed him to be a genuine Lutheran, 
to secure an orthodox minister for them from Sweden. Mr. Ny- 
berg had promised to get them one even better than himself. In 
the meantime he often visited the congregations as far as into 
Maryland and one and another soul was awakened under his lively 
preaching. When he thought that his party had become strong 
enough, he tried to introduce two brethren from Bethlehem here 
and in Maryland. The opposite party however proved unex- 
pectedly too strong, resisted him and said that they had asked 
for Lutheran Ministers from Sweden and not Moravians from 
Bethlehem. Thereupon a great division arose. The people who 
had been awakened by this method clung very closely to him, 
were ready to live or die with him, and, being so persuaded by 
him declared that we were false teachers. The stronger party 
nevertheless locked the church doors against him and said that 
they would connect themselves with our United Congregations. 
Nyberg’s party were supported and strengthened by the Re- 
formed Minister, Jacob Lischy, and others from Bethlehem. Lischy 
had for some time labored in the Reformed congregations in this 
district, but after it became known that he was of Moravian ten- 
dencies his congregations were also distracted. Under these cir- 
cumstances I was in a difficult position. Awakened souls of both 
parties showed spiritual hunger, were well disposed toward my 


YorK CouNtTYy CONFERENCE 611 


preaching, except that these of the Moravian tendencies were not 
pleased with the preaching of the law, repentance, prayer and 
spiritual conflict although I maintained them clearly enough with 
proofs from the Scriptures and our Confessions, and when I was 
constrained to bear testimony against Nyberg and other Mora- 
vians, they considered it as almost the sin against the Holy Ghost. 
I was glad to find that the Lutherans had been driven to the Bible 
and the Catechism. Their zeal for orthodoxy also was to be com- 
mended if only it was kept within the reasonable bounds of mod- 
eration, and pure doctrine was accompanied by a Holy life. At 
the same time I can safely affirm that some of our people in the 
severest conflicts with the disingenuous Moravians stood so firm 
and acted with such Christian moderation and wisdom that it 
must be ascribed to the especial grace of God which protects the 
simple hearted.” On his return from Maryland Muhlenberg was 
to tarry and minister at York and he thus tells the story: ‘On 
Saturday, June 27, at noon, we arrived in York where the members 
of the congregations were assembled to give in their names that 
they might come to the Lord’s Supper. I went into the house of 
one of the vorsteher, called together those elders and members | 
who had been the most active and earnest in preventing the 
church and congregation from falling into the hands of the Mo- 
ravians, and begged them to put away from them all dissension 
and distraction, to turn heartily to God, to ask him grace and 
forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ, and to tell me with entire 
impartiality, conscientiously, according to the best of their know- 
ledge, how each one of those who now applied to be admitted to 
the Lord’s Supper had heretofore conducted himself. Their old 
schoolmaster, who had thus far diligently instructed the children 
and on Sunday had read a sermon and thus kept the congregation 
together, was also present and was questioned with reference to 
some charges brought against him. On account of his faithfulness 
and firmness he was a thorn in the flesh of the other party and 
they accused him of many gross sins and of disgraceful conduct. 
In the course of the examination it became evident that most of 
the charges were unsustained and arose out of malice, but he him- 
self confessed that on one of several occasions, at the signing of 
contracts or obligations he had drunken somewhat too much. He 
promised to pray God to bestow upon him his Holy Spirit and the 
complete renewal of his heart and to walk more circumspectly. 
One or another of the vorsteher had shown too much heat and had 
been too loud in the strife with the Moravians, for which I re- 
proved them in gentleness and bade them search their hearts 
carefully. When those present had given in their names, one 
after another, there was found to be three classes of persons. Of 
some it is said that they had heard the word of God diligently and 
lead a quiet and peaceful life. Of others it was said that they had 
lived at strife with their neighbors and had not diligently attended 


612 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the preaching of the word. Of such it was commanded that they 
should come with their opponents and be reconciled. Some were 
reconciled and promised to open their hearts to the spirit and the 
word of God and no more to resist. The Justice of the Peace 
presented himself, but made complaint against a contentious 
neighbor, who, being examined, conducted himself rudely, re- 
fused admonition and was excluded until he amended. The third 
class were those who had been awakened by the preaching cf 
Nyberg and his co-laborers. The vorsteher complained that these 
had not usually attended the church when a sermon was read, 
but had run after Nyberg and otbers. They answered that such 
preaching moved their hearts, that by the preaching they were 
awakened from the sleep of sin, led to confess themselves poor 
sinners, to desire nothing so much as to be freed from their sins 
and to obtain grace to lead with earnestness a new life. They 
also affirmed that they desired to receive the Lord’s Supper and 
that they had not forsaken the evangelical religion, but were more 
firmly established therein, because now for the first time the werd 
of God and Luther’s Catechism had become truly attractive to 
them. The vorsteher desired that they should promise that in 
the future they would adhere more closely to their church 
and attend the services, and no longer run after Mr. Nyberg. 
They answered that they should not be bound so closely and 
be robbed of their liberty, but this they would promise 
that if a worthy pastor of our United ministry would come 
hither and preach, it would give them joy to come and hear him 
and to fellow him in so far as he was a follower of Christ. They 
found no power or edification in the read sermons. I saw clearly 
how the matter stood on both sides and desired therefore to speak 
first with the vorsteher and afterward with these people. The vor- 
steher said that they rejoiced when souls were awakened and 
brought to better thoughts, but they must be careful, lest on one 
hand the congregation be scattered and carried over to the Mo- 
ravians, or in the other hand to be driven off to Valentine Kraft, 
Carl Rudolph and the like, who were in the neighborhood, and 
thus the small harvest be destroyed for which they might hope 
if after a time a pastor of our body could be sent to them. They 
had no malice toward Nyberg and others, but esteemed their 
gifts, but inasmuch as they adhered to the Moravian sect, awak- 
ened souls did not continue in their first simplicity, but were lead 
astray more and more. ‘To this I gave my approval but said that 
nevertheless they must deal very prudently and do no injury on 
any side; because as a general rule, in the first awakening a tender 
love toward their teachers showed itself in such hearers, which in 
their further growth were gradually purified. Their present dis- 
position and course was good, insomuch as they acted from no 
personal malice or enmity, but from an anxiety for the true welfare 
of their congregation. Afterward I spoke also to the persons 


YorK County CONFERENCE 613 


mentioned, admonished them to persevere in the good work begun, 
to prove all things carefully by the word of God and the catechism, 
and to build their house not on the sand, or on human opinions, 
but on the true rock Jesus Christ. Three or four of these persons 
came to the Lord’s Supper while several absented themselves. 
At three o’clock we went to the church and had a profitable prep- 
aration based on Matthew 11:8. The people were all very at- 
tentive and drank in the word as a dry land does the warm rain. 
After the preparatory service and Confession I received the group 
of young people that the schoolmaster had instructed with credit- 
able industry for their confirmation, examined them in the order 
of Salvaticn and admonished them to true repentance and living 
faith and the renewal of their baptismal covenant, which was then 
publicly made. After the service I conversed personally with some 
individuals who mentioned such things in the address as had 
specially moved them and sought instruction concerning such 
things as they had not understood. In the evening I edified and 
refreshed myself still farther with the elders and the vorsteher in 
the house. 

“On Sunday, June 28th, early, some persons who live far off 
and could not be present yesterday made application for the Lord’s 
Supper. A few of Mr. Nyberg’s adherents also applied, but when 
they were admonished as the others had been, they proved in- 
tractable and stayed away. ‘The church was on this occasion too 
small and nearly half the audience had to stand outside, for a great 
congregation had assembled from a distance even of ten to twenty 
miles. I first held preparatory service and confession with those 
who had today applied, then preached on the gospel of the great 
Supper, (it was the second Sunday after Trinity). After the sermon 
I baptised a number of children, examined and confirmed fifteen 
young persons amid plenteous tears, administered the Lord’s 
Supper to two hundred communicants and then closed the public 
services of the day, the whole congregation on bended knee giving 
thanks to the Father, in Christ Jesus, for all his unmerited grace. 
In the evening I was invited as guest of the Justice of the Peace.” 

It is not certain whether there is any visit by Muhlenberg or 
Brunholtz or any known pastor from this time until May, 1748. 
In May, 1748, the United Ministers were for the first time able to 
make provision for the congregation and to send one of their as- 
sistants, John Helfrick Schaum, to labor at York. 

John Helfrick Schaum is said in Sprague’s annals to have been 
born in Geissen in Hesse Darmstadt. When he was selected for 
labor in America, his father, John Phil H. Schaum was Preceptor 
at the scheol at Munchholzhausen in the domain of the count of 
Selms-Braunfels, not far from Geissen, and was an intimate friend 
of John George Kurtz, teacher at Lutzellinden near by, and the 
father of Nicholas Kurtz who was sent over with Schaum. Schaum 
was educated in the schools of the orphan house and at the Uni- 


614 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


versity at Halle. -He landed at Philadelphia, January 26, 1745, 
in company with his comrade N. Kurtz and with Rev. P. Brun- 
holtz. He occasionally preached under the pastor’s direction, 
especially at Germantown. Later he was sent to Cohenzi, N. J. 
When he came to York he was to occupy the position of Diaconus, 
to be prudent and careful in official and private life, to keep an 
exact and connected diary of each day’s events and official acts 
to be submitted to the Ministers and to send occasional reports 
of affairs, to conduct all services in exact accordance with the 
prescribed order given him; minute directions as to the length and 
mode of preaching are given; he has authority to baptise, but must 
use the exact words of the Agenda, to marry those of the congre- 
gation after three fold publication of the banns, to instruct care- 
fully the young as the most important matter committed to him, 
and finally he is minutely charged as to his conduct and conversa- 
tion. He had no authority to confirm, or to administer the Lord’s 
Supper, as one of the ordained pastors would come from time to 
time for these purposes. 

There were many difficulties encountered by Mr. Schaum at 
the outset. The congregation had been without a settled pastor 
for nearly five years, ever since the death of pastor Candler. Pas- 
tor Nyberg to whom the oversight had been given, had tried to 
carry the congregations over to the Moravians, and even when he 
failed in his effort he had drawn one member after another away, 
in which work of distraction he had been aided by the presence 
and influence of Lischy. In all this time, except for the occasional 
visit of a pastor, they had no other services in the church than 
those conducted by the schoolmaster. That much dissension and 
distraction should have resulted was unavoidable; and so strongly 
were they manifested that in September, 1748, the United Pastors 
proposed to remove Mr. Schaum and send him to Raritan in N. J. 
But when the congregation heard of this, they endeavored to 
settle their difficulties and secure his retention among them. But 
Mr. Schaum succeeded in winning the confidence of the large body 
of the congregation and in the spring of 1749 there was a general 
desire that he should be ordained as their pastor. April 14, Pastor 
Handschuh visited York, administered confirmation and com- 
munion and made arrangements for the ordination of Mr. Schaum. 
At the meeting of the Ministerium at Lancaster, Saturday, June 
3, Mr. Schaum was examined after which the elders, vorsteher, 
and other members of the congregation at York on the Katores 
who were present, were called in and conferred with about his call 
and ordination. His call was made out and subscribed. On Sun- 
day, June 4, the Second Sunday after Trinity, in Trinity Church, 
Lancaster, after a sermon by Pastor Muhlenberg, an address by 
him to the candidate, and a prayer by Pastor Brunholtz, Diaconus 
Schaum was solemnly ordained by the laying on of hands of the 
pastors present. During the ordination service all the elders and 


YorK County CONFERENCE 615 


deacons of the York congregation, and the delegates of the other 
congregations, stood around the altar as witnesses. With such 
solemn services the first resident pastor of this congregation was 
set apart for and appointed to his work. 

It was probably in view of his new pastoral dignity that Mr. 
Vigera was to send him a wig from Philadelphia and a large rocking 
chair; a letter from Vigera also mentions a present of 1114 yards 
linen shirting received for him from that good friend of our pastors, 
the Gross Vogtin von Miinchhausen. 

On the 19th of August, 1749, the county of York was formed 
and the influx of Germans still became stronger. At the meeting 
of Synod, June 17, 1750, at Providence, pastor Schaum and two 
delegates were present, and there seems to have been a prosperous 
condition of affairs here. In September he visited Raritan and 
again November 23, he started to assist in the consecration of the 
church there and in the ordination of pastor Weygand. Paster 
Handschuh and an elder joined him at Lancaster, and pastors 
Hartwig and Brunholtz and an organist at Providence. On this 
journey pastor Schaum met. with an accident by which one of 
his legs was severely injured so that he had to use crutches at the 
ordination and the long journey home was made difficult and 
painful. From this painful injury he suffered for years and was 
greatly disabled for the work of his ministry. From December, 
1750, until April 14, 1751, when Handschuh visited and preached 
for him, he had not been able to preach and sermons had been read 
by schoolmaster Maul. Nich. Kurtz preached for him here April 
28. Hew soon afterward he was again able to preach is not 
known. The invitation to Synod he could not accept. In 1752 
he was present at the meeting in Germantown and was requested 
to visit the congregation occasionally at Frederick, which was 
vacant and had frequently sought advice from him. In May, 
1752, he was called to bear the double loss of his wife Anna Eva 
and their young child Anna Gertrude, who were buried together 
May llth. He was married a second time, August 7, 1753, to 
Maria Dorothea Stumpf, of Lancaster. In the spring of 1753 
pastor Schaum was again in such ill health that he was unable to 
preach, and Nicholas Kurtz preached here for him and at Kreutz 
Creek, and pastor Haysihl also promised to come. There was mani- 
fest at this time a growing opposition, which continued to increase 
until it drove Mr. Schaum away. It seems to have been at first 
controlled by those who were opposed to the wholesome discipline 
and strong government of the United Ministry and Congregations. 
In Germantown these elements under the guidance of the disorder- 
ly and degraded pastors Andrea and Rapp, had driven out Hands- 
schuh and gotten control of the church in March. Their emis- 
saries came to York and fomented the opposition to Schaum and 
the Synod. Many members grew impatient on account of the 
pastor’s ill health and inability to attend to his duties. So that 


616 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


while the majority of the members held fast to the church, pastor 
and synod, the opponents were numerous and included most of 
the wealthier part to the congregation and even some of the 
elders. The opposition learned of the arrival at Baltimore of 
John Samuel Schwerdfeger, candidate of theology, and hastened 
thither to secure him. Mr. Schaum continued to minister to the 
majority and to hold possession of the church throughout 1754 
and until the spring of 1755, and in April he removed to Tohickon. 
It is not probable that Mr. Schwerdfeger ever had possession of 
the church record, or was pastor of the regular congregation here, 
as in 1755 there were only 9 baptisms entered. He went to New 
Holland in 1758, to Frederick in 1768, to Albany, Ne Y eine Ags 
and died in that neighborhood in 1788. 

There were therefore in 1754 two parties here, each having its 
own minister, and of course there was bitter strife. Under these 
circumstances it was decided that it would be better for Mr. 
Schaum to be removed. Mr. Muhlenberg wrete to the two par- 
ties and proposed that they would unite on a new man, Mr. 
Schaum would be sent to another place, and he proposed to them 
Rev. Lucas Raus, of New Goschenhoppen. This was about the 
close of 1754, or more probably the beginning of 1755. He re- 
relved such a favorable answer that he sent Mr. Handschuh to 
accompany Mr. Raus to York to try to settle the strife. They 
came and Mr. Raus preached and a call for him was signed by 
a considerable number of persons of each party and was taken by 
Handschuh and Raus to Muhlenberg, who in the presence of 
both delivered to Mr. Raus. But he had changed his mind and 
was unwilling to go and affirmed that they wished to send him 
out of the way, to the outermost borders of the settlement and 
into danger and he refused the call. So Mr. Mulhenberg testifies 
and Mr. Handschuh supports the statement. There was great 
confusion at York when Mr. Raus did not come. He threw the 
blame on Muhlenberg and said that he did not wish him to come 
but wished to get one of the Halle ministers, and the people here 
were incensed at Muhlenberg. So that when he urged Handsechuh 
to have compassion on the scattered flock and remove to York 
they refused the proposal. Thus the congregation was for a time 
removed from the Halle ministers and synod and remained with- 
out a pastor, except that Schwerdfeger probably continued to 
preach. 

At the beginning of the year 1756 they seemed to have agreed 
to accept as their pastor, George Ludwig Hockheimer, who arrived 
in this country November 1, 1755, and who was sent hither with 
warm recommendations by Andrea at Germantown. He had been 
a barber and a schoolmaster in Germany and not a Clergyman. 
Whether he was ordained by Andrea is uncertain, but such an 
act would not have been recognized by the better part of the con- 
eregation. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 617 


For some months after his arrival Mr. Hockheimer was in 
charge, but it is possible that in 1757 he may for a time have 
served at least temporarily. There are a few entries of baptisms 
begun October 10, 1757, which may have been by him. It is 
certain that he settled in York County and had charge of congre- 
gations here and in Maryland. He was never connected with 
the synod, since, when they learned his sentiments toward the 
Halle Ministers, they were indisposed to receive him. In 1763 
he sent a Latin letter to Muhlenberg by Nic. Hornell expressing 
his desire to unite, to which Muhlenberg wrote a discouraging 
answer. He says that he had come to this country nine years 
before. He must have had charge somewhere on the upper waters 
of the Codorus. He certainly had charge of Schuster’s church, 10 
miles southwest of York from 1763 to 1767, which was probably 
organized by him. Dr. J. Daniel Kurtz in his sketch of the 
history of the church in Baltimore, says that in 1758 he began to 
visit Baltimore until about 1770 when he removed to Baltimore, 
where he died in 17738. 

Early in 1758 correspondence was again opened with Rev. 
Raus, with a view to his removal to York. At the beginning of 
March he visited this place when the arrangements were concluded 
and in April he moved hither with his family. 

The student Lucas Raus left the University of Jena in May, 
1749, and left September 1, for the coast, whence he sailed from 
Rotterdam, August 11, and landed at Philadelphia, November 22, 
1749. He says that he came with no expectation of becoming a 
pastor but expected to be a teacher in the family of some merchant. 
When he arrived at Philadelphia his case was a sad one; that 
during the voyage he was cheated out of his money by his German 
fellow passengers and had nothing wherewith to pay the 15 pas- 
sage money due the captain who threatened to take him to the 
West Indies whither the ship was bound and sell his time there. 
He bethought him of a fellow student at Presberg who had often 
tried to persuade him to come to America and who was now in 
Pennsylvania. He wrote him a letter which on the arrival of the 
ship he sent to the care of the Lutheran Minister in Philadelphia 
whose name he did not know. It was delivered to Pastor Brun- 
holtz who interested himself in his behalf, consulted Mr. Muhlen- 
berg and Mr. Schleydorn and they decided to pay the passage 
money out of funds sent from Germany to pay the expenses for 
sending out spiritual labors for the field in Pennsylvania. He 
was taken by Mr. Brunholtz into his house and spent some months 
there, giving instruction to the children of the merchants Schley- 
dorn and Schippy. After a time he occasionally committed and 
delivered a sermon, then preached frequently at Germantown, 
and was sent now and then to relieve Mr. Muhlenberg in the va- 
cant congregations at Goschenhoppen, for which he had to provide. 
He was sent for six months to Mr. Hartwick’s charge in Duchess 


618 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


County, N. Y., and then to the congregations at Goschenhoppen 
and Indianfield, preaching for a time also in the Oley Hills and 
Zion churches of Mr. Muhlenberg’s charge. From this charge 
during his pastorate in which he was ordained at Provi- 
dence, November 5, 1752, he came to York. During his stay at 
Goschenhoppen he married Anna Sophia Gemlingen. 

The ministry of pastor Raus at York was successful in build- 
ing up the congregation greatly beyond that of any previous 
pastor. The highest number of children ever baptised within a 
year before this time was 104 in Schaum’s second year, since 
Schaum’s removal it had not exceeded 32. In Mr. Raus’ first 
full year, 1759, there were 132 and in 1761, 161 children baptised. 
Nor was the number ever equaled afterward until in Dr. Schmuck- 
er’s time. Other ministerial acts show the same increase. All 
parties had sunken out of sight and there was one united congre- 
gation. The church soon became entirely too small to contain 
the swelling numbers, and there was unity, zeal and courage enough 
to undertake the erection of alarge stone church, which was to serve 
as the place of worship for a half of century. The congregation 
had at that time 300 adults and 250 young members. On the 
second day of June, 1760, the cornerstone was laid; April 30, 
1761, baptism was administered in the new church, so that by 
that time it must have been so far completed as to shelter the 
congregation and be used for worship. It was not fully completed 
until the fall of 1762. Muhlenberg writes, August 12, ‘‘Provost 
Wrangel visited me to consult about the consecration of the new 
church in Yorktown and the letters on that subject received from 
pastor Gerock. Dr. Wrangel decided to perform the act on the 
15th Sunday after Trinity in conjunction with Pastors Borrell, 
Gerock and N. Kurtz and to spare Muhlenberg.”’ The 15th Sun- 
day after Trinity that year fell on September 19, while Dr. J. G. 
Schmucker says that the consecration took place in October; 
perhaps some cause of delay occured after the arrangements were 
made in August. 

The new stone church which stood until 1812, 40 by 65 feet 
in dimensions, occupied the same lot on which the present church 
stands, but was placed nearer the street. The gable was toward 
the street with a front door in the center and one window on each 
side of it in the first story, in the second row above the galleries 
there were three windows. At the opposite end in the rear, was 
a steeple of considerable height and well proportioned, in. which 
were two bells. On the south side there were four windows in 
the upper story and a door in the first beneath the third window. 
It stood thus until by reason of the decay of the timbers the steeple 
was taken down in 1805 as far as the bells and a roof placed over 
them. 

Notwithstanding the large growth and external prosperity 
which attended the ministry of Rev. Lucas Raus it ceased in the 


YoRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 619 


spring or summer of 1763 and the reasons therefor have not been 
fully known. Some light is thrown on the matter by some papers 
preserved in the archives at Halle. The estrangement between 
Mr. Raus and the Halle ministers, and especially Mr. Muhlenberg, 
had been increasing for years, until about the time he came to 
York intercourse had nearly ceased. There was no meeting of 
the synod held from 17565 till 1759, so that no question of connec- 
tion with the synod could be raised, but when Mr. Raus came to 
York he did not communicate with the Halle pastors about the 
congregations he had left, or that to which he came; he did not 
even inform Mr. Muhlenberg of his having ceased to serve the 
two congregations of his own charge which had been given over 
to Mr. Raus; nor did Muhlenberg learn aught of his purpose until 











Curist CuurcuH, 1760-1812 


(The school house in the yard may have been original log church.) 


he was gone. At the consecration none of the Halle ministers 
were present, or invited, except Kurtz, who in 1747 was in the 
back country at Tulpehocken and had little to do with general 
affairs. In 1760 when the invitations were sent out for the meet- 
ing of synod by Mr. Muhlenberg none was sent to Mr. Raus, on 
the ground that he had withdrawn from all friendly relations with 
them. In 1761 Mr. Gerock proposed to invite him to the meeting 
at Lancaster, when Mr. Muhlenberg declined to do so, but said 
that Mr. Gerock might do so personally. Mr. Raus came to that 
meeting just before its close and presented direct and formal 
charges against Mr. Muhlenberg of heterodoxy in doctrine, and 
of life and conversation unbecoming a Christian, and offered to 
furnish written proofs in full to substantiate the charges. Of 


620 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


course such serious charges against the most prominent pastor 
and bishop of the synod could not be passed over. Mr. Raus 
was told to present the proofs to sustain his charges. Provost 
Wrangel and Rev. Andrew Borell were chosen as arbitrators to 
whom the examination of the matter was referred. They were 
both Swedish pastors and were chosen as impartial judges. The 
charges were made May 19, at Lancaster. In September Mr. Raus 
presented his statement in writing to the arbitrators, who trans- 
mitted it to Mr. Muhlenberg, whose defence was submitted to 
them in October 17, 1761. All of these papers were afterwards 
transmitted to Halle. Mr. Raus’ paper covers six sheets and is 
chiefly occupied with a continuous narrative of the events of his 
life from his landing at Philadelphia until he left Goschenhoppen, 
all along which he finds evidences of unfair treatment of himself 
by the Halle ministers, but preeminently Muhlenberg. The copy 
of Mr. Muhlenberg’s defence covers 54 pages. It takes each point 
of Mr. Raus statement in order, quotes his words and presents an 
answer to each. Very much of Mr Raus’ statement is therefore 
contained in the defence. Mr. Muhlenberg’s paper shows that 
under what he deemed unjust assault and great provocation, he 
was capable of vigorous indignation. So far as I can see the charge 
of heterodoxy seems to have been first the general one, that the 
Halle pietists were not orthodox Lutherans, and secondly, that 
Mr. Muhlenberg alleged that the Lutheran church had some im- 
perfections. The charges as to unchristian life seem to have been 
only as to treatment of himself. Mr. Muhlenberg seems to think 
that the bad feeling arose chiefly from an erroneous but immovable 
conviction of Mr. Raus that the Halle ministers received consider- 
able sums of money from Europe for their support and divided 
this among themselves, giving him none however grievous his 
need was. 

These charges afforded us an opportunity of receiving from 
Mr. Muhlenberg a very vigorous statement of his relation to the 
confessions and doctrine of the Lutheran Church: ‘I defy Satan 
and all the lying spirits who serve him to prove anything against 
me contrary to the doctrine of the apostles and the prophets and 
of our Symbolical Books. I have often and again said and writ- 
ten that I have found in our evangelical doctrine, founded on the 
apostles and the prophets and on our symbolical books neither 
error, fault, nor anything wanting.’? The money received from 
Kurope was used to pay the expenses of sending over men and to 
aid in the erection of churches and schoolhouses. 

The arbitrators found the charges unsustained, and demanded 
of Mr. Raus an acknowledgement and apology to Mr. Muhlenberg, 
which he violently refused to make. Of course his connection 
with the synod ceased, and his withdrawal from the congregation 
at York was required by the church council, as Mr. Muhlenberg 
records in his diary. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 621 


Mr. Raus tendered his resignation before October 30, 1762, to 
take effect April 17, 1763, and the council wrote a letter to Mr. 
Muhlenberg asking for a pastor from the Ministerium. He ans- 
wered, promising that after the congregation was vacant they would 
endeavor to find someone and visit until supplied. It is almost 
certain that their call to Mr. Raus’ successor was extended with- 
out consultation with Mr. Muhlenberg, since his diary shows that 
he and Gerock were consulting about the settlement of Mr. Bager 
here at this time and he says the congregation became vacant 
April 3, 1763. 

Pastor Hornell was an ordained minister from Sweden, who, 
June 29, 1763, came to Provost Wrangel in Philadelphia from 
Wilmington, where he had spent four weeks with pastor Borrel, 
and had brought with him an invitation to take charge of the 
congregation at York. He called the next day on Pastor Muhlen- 
berg and desired to borrow some German books. Mr. Muhlen- 
berg at his request wrote to pastor Gerock, informing him that 
pastor Hornell proposed to start July 8, by the Lancaster stage. 
Mr. Mublenberg himself copied the Agenda for him to use at 
York. July 7, Hornell took leave of Muhlenberg with tears. At 
the meeting of Synod, October, 1763, a call from the congregation 
at Yorktown for N. Hornell as pastor was presented and read. 
The Synod decided that the call was satisfactory that there was 
no cbjection to be made to it, 1t Was unanimously approved, sub- 
scribed and given to pastor Hornell. Thus the cordial relation 
between the congregation and synod was restored. Mr. Hornell! 
was pastor here from July, 1763, to July, 1765. No baptisms 
were recorded after January, 1765, but the marriages continue 
until July 30. 

The occasion for the cessation of Mr. Hornell’s ministry was 
a sad one and affords another instance of the danger of accepting 
pastors from Europe whose antecedents were not well known. In 
1765 rumors unfavorable to Mr. Hornell’s conduct in Sweden 
were freely circulated and the church council wrote to Mr. Muh- 
lenberg about them.. In his answer of May 20, 1765, which covers 
four pages in his diary, he says that on account of Mr. Raus’ 
behavior toward him he had not visited York for a long time, 
but that he had delighted in the progress of the congregation and 
the dedication of the new church, and then described the way in 
which Mr. Hornell had been introduced to him, that he had a 
certificate of ordination from Sweden, that Mr. Borell had ad- 
mitted him to his house and pulpit and recommended him to 
Provost Wrangel, that at Philadelphia Mr. Hornell had shown 
humility and willingness to learn, and was a large man of robust 
health and good voice well suited to a large congregation, that the 
congregation at York after months of acquaintance had zealously 
demanded that he become their pastor and given him a regular 
call. In the fall of 1764 he had first heard of some unfavorable 


622 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


statement based on a private letter, but he had questioned its 
truthfulness. In the following winter he had again heard that Mr. 
Hornell had to flee from Sweden, but he had as yet no proofs. 
The whole letter is intended as a defence of himself, Provost 
Wrangel and the synod in their approval of Mr. Hornell. 

June 5, 1765, Mr. Muhlenberg writes to the church council 
on the authority of Dr. Wrangel, that a Rescript of the Consistory 
of Upsala, to which application had been made by Dr. Wrangel, 
shows that Nicholas Hornell was ordained at Lunden in 1747, 
that he served the congregation at Hoors in the Province of 
Schonen, that in 1760 he was arrested on a charge of serious 
wrong doing, but that before judgment was pronounced he had 
fled to Denmark. Mr. Muhlenberg says that he feels bound in 
conscience to communicate these things. He advises the council 
quietly to forbid Mr. Hornell any further performance of minis- 
terial acts or to advise him to resign, and Provost Wrangel wrote 
to Mr. Hornell to the same effect. Mr. Hornell resigned, delivered 
a farewell discourse June 30, 1765, and retired from the office of 
the ministry. During his pastorate he had been married in Dec., 
1764, to Anna, widow to Thomas Davis, andin his diary, May, 
1767, Mr. Muhlenberg writes that Mr. Hornell was then living 
about half a mile from York. 

In July, 1765, Muhlenberg was informed by Mr. Bager that 
Hornell had preached his farewell sermon. From July, 1765, till 
February, 1767, there was a vacancy. The baptisms, 7 in 1765, 
and 13 in 1766, are entered in one hand, probably that of the 
schoolmaster Philip Teutsch. After the death of schoolmaster 
Barthel Maul, between 1754 and 1759, William Kurtz was in 
1756 teacher of the school established by the English Society. 
Philip Teutsch was at York in 1758 and may have been teacher 
at that time; Kurtz left in 1757. He continued to have charge 
of the school until his death in 1789, and was highly esteemed for 
his worth. The congregation was highly favored in its early 
schoolmasters. 

In February, 1767, pastor Bager, who had been in charge of 
the German church in New York City since May, 1763, returned 
to York County upon a call which they had given him, unsolicited 
as Gerock says, and became pastor of this church, residing in 
the parsonage. 

Mr. Bager was born at Niederlinxweiler, near Ottweiler, in 
Nassau-Saarbruck, March 29, 1725. His father was a pastor in 
comfortable circumstances. He studied theology at Halle under 
Dr. J. S. Baumgarten. Mr. Muhlenberg in a letter to a New 
York congregation says of him: ‘He is a worthy and learned man, 
who was examined and ordained in Germany.” He was settled 
as pastor at Simmern, on the Hundscruck. He was married to 
Anna Elizabeth Schwab, born December 4, 1728, at Giessen. 
They had two children born at Simmern, John George William, 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 623 


born April 15, 1750, and Charles Theodore Frederick, born Sep- 
tember 5, 1751, and buried at Helvoetsluys, the seaport in Holland 
from which they sailed. He was met on his arrival at Philadelphia 
by John Casper Stoever and taken by him to Lebanon County, 
where he found a home on the Quitopohilla, where his third child 
Catharine Margaret was born June 9, 1753, at whose baptism Mrs. 
Stoever stood as sponser. In December, 1752, he visited Hanover 
and received a call on the 16th, but did not take charge until 
March 10, 1753, and may not have removed his family until 
after June. He was in that charge until his removal to New 
York. His fourth child Christian Frederick, born August 29th, 
1754, was baptised by Schwerdfeger whom he calls Lutheran Min- 
ister at Yorktown. At the death of his father he inherited money 
with which he purchased a farm, probably that in Berwick Town- 
ship, now Adams County, on which he lived. He resided in the 
old neighborhood after leaving York until his death, June 9, 1791. 
During many years he journeyed far and wide ministering to the 
scattered Lutherans from Baltimore where for some years he 
preached once in six weeks, to Grindstone Hill, now in Franklin 
County. His descendants are well known in this and adjoining 
counties and among them have been distinguished professors and 
pastors. | 
In April, 1770, John Nicholas Kurtz took charge of the con- 
eregation at York. He was born in October, 1722, at Lutzellinden 
in the Principality of Nassau. His father was a teacher in the 
congregational school and a near neighbor and an intimate friend 
of the father of Pastor Schaum. His early instruction was doubt- 
less received in his father’s school. He says that he was trained 
by his dear parents in the fear of God and diligently admonished 
to prayer so that he was kept from gross sin. In his 15th year he 
was sent to classical school at Geissen, where he spent six years, 
during the last six months of which, having finished the course, 
he was a student of theology in the University. He gives us a 
very interesting account of his inner spiritual life and growth and 
blessed influence on him of Pastor Ohly, of his own elder brother, 
who it was said afterwards became professor at Giessen, and of 
Dr. J. Phil. Fresenius, who became professor in 1742. His brother, 
Pastor Ohly and Schaum’s father persuaded his father to send 
him to Halle, whither he went in the fall of 1743 with Schaum who 
had already spent a year or more there. He speaks in warm 
terms of the spiritual privileges he then enjoyed. It was scarcely 
a full half year after his arrival at Halle when Dr. Francke pro- 
posed to give him a call as a catechist from the Pennsylvania 
churches. He and Schaum agreed to come together and started 
July, 1744, for England, and with Schaum and pastor Brunholtz 
he arrived at Philadelphia, January 26, 1745. It was decided 
that he should be placed at New Hanover, to teach the congre- 
gational school, to instruct the catechumens, to preach alternate- 


624 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


ly with Muhlenberg at New Hanover and Providence or for him 
at the preaching places which were served from that charge, such 
as Oley, Upper Milford and Saucon, to baptize in case of need and 
in general to be an assistant to Muhlenberg. He occupied the 
dwelling connected with school at first with Vigera, afterwards a 
family lived with him. December, 1745, and January, 1746, were 
spent by Mr. Kurtz in Raritan, N. J., and he again went, March 
18, 1746, to the same-place to supply the vacant congregations 
there which were very anxious that he should become their pastor. 
It was however decided that he should be placed at Tulpehocken. 
He started December 15, 1746, from Muhlenberg’s house on his 
journey, and his diary furnishes an interesting account of his ex- 
periences and labors. He was still a catachist under the over- 
sight of Muhlenberg who came to confirm and administer com- 
munion. He had charge at first of Christ’s Church and North- 
kill and from the spring of 1747 until May, 1748, half his time 
was given to Lancaster. At the first meeting of the Pennsylvania 
Ministerium, held August 15, 1748, at the urgent request of the 
congregations he was ordained. It was not the first ordination of 
a Lutheran minister in this country, that honored place being 
held by the ordination of a faithful and worthy man, Justus 
Faleckner. It was however the first ordination by order of a 
Lutheran Synod and at the first synodical meeting. The papers 
submitted in his examination, his sketch of his life, the obligation 
he assumed, the call given him have all been preserved, and show 
how careful and anxious as to soundness of doctrine, purity of 
life and order in the church, the fathers were. In the Tulpehocken 
charge Mr. Kurtz continued first as catechist, then as pastor for 
23 years and four months, from December, 1746, to April, 1770. 
In 1748 Reed’s or the Old Tulpehocken church came under his 
care, in 1750 Heidleberg was formed, then Rehrersberg and for a 
time he supplied Bernville. At the time of his removal he was 
even temporary supply at White Oak, Warwick and Manheim 
in Lancaster County and Schaefferstown in Lebanon County. 
When Mr. Kurtz came to York he was in his 48th year, and in 
full vigor, having secured for himself the love of the churches and 
the respect of his brethren. He was a well formed man, 5 feet, 
10 inches high, with broad fair forehead, dark eyes, a straight 
strong nose, very white skin with dark curling hair and sound 
teeth till his death. He had a full strong resonant voice, very 
different from that of Mr. Schaum who stuttered badly. He was 
inclined to preach the law and not to abate its terrors. He had 
clear strong convictions and great firmness cf purpose. He was 
very faithful in every known duty and deeply earnest in his work. — 

Mr. Kurtz’s missionary work began at York in April, 1770, 
bis last entry in the Tulpehocken record being of April 13, his 
first at York, May 6. In 1771, in the late fall, he attended the 
first meeting of the district conference at New Holland, such 


YorRK County CONFERENCE 625 


meeting having been proposed by Dr. Helmuth at Synod, Sep- 
tember 23, and approved; there were six, pastors present from 
York, Lancaster and Lebanon counties. It would seem from Dr. 
Muhlenherg’ s statement in 1776 that the annual meeting of the 
Ministerium was held in York, but we have as vet found no other 
allusion to it than Rev. Goering was ordained. During his pas- 
torate here the Revolutionary struggle took place and Congress 
met here. He was at first troubled about the oath of allegiance 
to the King he had taken, but his conscience became clear and in 
1776 he was naturalized and he became an American citizen. 
During the meeting of Congress when the houses of citizens had 
to be opened to entertain guests, his house was the home of Bishop 
White, then of the Spanish Minister, then of the French Minister, 
then of a Member of South Carolina. In 1777 when money was 
scarce and the provisions for the soldiers very meager, Mr. Kurtz 
preached a sermon suited to the occasion, invited his hearers to 
collect all clothing and stores of any kind and send them to his 
house, and as the response was prompt and cordial a committee 
Was appointed to distribute them to the suffering soldiers. 

In 1781, a revised constitution for the congregation was 
adopted and placed on record, signed by the pastor, the school- 
master, Philip Teutsch, 17 elders and vorsteher, and a large number 
of members. He died suddenly of apoplexy in the city of Balti- 
more Where he hes buried. America had in its time very few 
preachers equal to him. 

In the record of the New Hanover Church is the record of 
Mr. Kurtz’s marriage, made by Mr. Muhlenberg, who performed 
the ceremony. Mrs. Kurtz is said to have been a woman of 
ereat excellence of judgment and character and especially of much 
gentleness and to have had a happy influence on softening the 
legal severity of her husband’s character. They had nine sons 
and three daughters, all born before they came to York. The 
baptisms of eight of them are recorded at Tulpehocken, among 
them that of John Daniel, born March 30, 1764, pastor at Bal 
timore. 

Mr. Kurtz served as secretary of the Ministerium in 1763, 
as president in 1778, and at the death of Dr. H. M. Mublenberg 
he was accorded the high honor of becoming his successor as Senior 
Minister, by the unanimous vote of the Ministerium, on the 
nomination of D. Kuntze. 

Rey. Jacob Goering who succeeded Mr. Kurtz was the son 
of Jacob and Margaret Goering, and was born in Chanceford 
Township, York County, June 17, 1755. His father had em1i- 
erated from Germany and was a farmer on a small scale. The 
son showed from an early age a desire to learn and also to become 
a clergyman. He had few advantages of school but great hunger 
for knowledge and industry in applying every spare hour to its 
acquisition. 


626 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


The constitution adopted here in 1781 is that of Philadelphia 
adopted in 1762 with many of the modifications made at Lan- 
caster in 1769 and other changes. Nearly all the additions made 
here are in the directions of stricter discipline. Among them are 
the following: Parents are invited to secure the approval of the 
pastor before inviting sponsors, all communicants are required to 
make applications to the pastor before coming to the Lord’s Sup- 
per, none but a pastor regularly called and ordained according to 
Lutheran order can preach, a future seminary is added to the 
place from which pastors may be gotten, the pastor may be 
elected by a two-thirds vote and is president of the council. An 
addition to the duties cf trustees and elders says: ‘‘They shall 
follow no disorderly and sinful occupation, nor allow in their 
houses any sinful or unchristian things, such as gambling, dancing, 
drinking, or disorder.’? <A section on the duties of members and 
the occasion of discipline is added—-Sins against the sixth com- 
mandment requiring public confession and restoration of sinners. 

Mr Kurtz’s pastorate closed finally October 6, 1789, on which 
day he removed to Baltimore, where he lived with his son, Rev. 
J. N. Kurtz, until the end came. The following entry is made in 
the record of deaths by pastor Goering: “On the 12th day of 
May, 1794, died Rev. Nicholas Kurtz, 74 years old, who was pas- 
tor of this congregation in Yorktown about 20 years. He was a 
ereat preacher, and zealous in the Lord’s work as he was eminent 
in his generation for his attainments. Dr. Helmuth says that 
from January, 1775, he preached to several small congregations, 
these were probably not far from Lancaster and he was under the 
care of his teacher. He was publicly examined and licensed in 
synod in his 20th year, which would have been 1775, as a catechist. 
In 1776 he was ordained as Diaconus and settled at Carlisle. 
While at Carlisle he was married to Elizabeth Syng, who after 18 
months died without issue, of consumption. It is not certain what 
the limits of his field of labor were throughout this period, but 
when he resigned the charge, in 1783, he preached in six congrega- 
tions, Which then formed a charge in which he had preached un- 
til May, 1788, which became vacant by his removal and united 
in the appeal to the svnod for a pastor; they are Upper and Lower 
Bermudian, Dover, Paradise, Lower Settlement and Carlisle and 
from then until May, 1783, at Dover. 


In 1783 the annual meeting of the Ministerium was fer the 
second time held at York. It began on Trinity Sunday, June 15th, 
and lasted till Tuesday evening. There were sermons in the 
morning by Rev. Dr. Kuntze, in the-afternoon by pastor Ernst, 
and in the evening by Pastor Henry Muhlenberg, of Lancaster. 
This is the earliest evening service mentioned. Thirteen minis- 
ters were present and the absence of six was excused. Monday’s 
session was opened by the synodical sermon by the president 


YorK County CONFERENCE 627 


Emanuel Schulze, on the character of the evangelical minister who 
faithfully fulfills his office. 

At the time of this meeting, June 15, 1783, Mr. Goering had 
already accepted a call to become assistant pastor in this charge, 
bad resigned his fermer sphere of labor, and removed to York. 
His first entries in the record are made in June. In the previous 
year, 1782, he had taken a second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of 
pastor N. Kurtz, born November 5, 1760. Mrs. Goering survived 
her husband many years, dying May 31, 1831, having borne him 
two sons and eight daughters. What the arrangements and di- 
vision of labor have been between the two pastors is not certain, 
except that the general care of outlying mission work westward 
was committed to Mr. Kurtz. The entries of baptisms of June, 
1783, to March, 1785, were made by both pastors, from that time 
until his removal they are almost all entered by Mr. Kurtz, but 
he may have copied those from his son-in-law from his diary. 
There was a cordial relation between the two pastors, and the 
church grew steadily through the six years of joint pastorate. On 
the removal of Senior Kurtz to Baltimore, October 6, 1789, Mr. 
Goering became sole pastor. In 1791 he accepted a call to Hag- 
erstown, Md., and left here about the end of June. What led to 
this change is not certain, but it was certainly not agreeable to 
the congregation, Which would neither consent, nor be reconciled, 
nor elect another pastor, but applied to synod in 1792 earnestly 
entreating that he may be given back to them. It was then ar- 
ranged that after three months he should return. On September 
18th his entries began again. There was no entry of baptism 
during the vacancy except at a few dates probably at visits. In 
1793 he had charge of the York, Cockley and Kreutz Creek con- 
eregations. 

In 1804, an act of incorporation of the congregation was 
passed, issued by Governor McKean, May 2, 1804, enrolled June 
26, and the first election under it was held on Easter Monday in 
that year. It changes the time of service of the elders, of whom 
two were to be elected each year to serve for 6 years, the wardens 
as the vorsteher are called to serve for two years. The pastor 
mav be chosen by a majority of elders, wardens, communicants 
and contributors, instead of two-thirds vote. The corporation 
elects its own president, instead of the pastor presiding. Among 
the rules adopting it June 1, 1805, was one that the pastor should 
never be present. The title is: ““The Ministers, elders and church 
wardens and the German Lutheran congregation in and near the 
borough of York, in the County of York, in the State of Penn- 
sylvania.”’ 

After a lingering illness Rev. Jacob Goering died of consump- 
tion November 7, 1809, and a minute was adopted by the church 
council almost in the very words of that which he himself had made 
at the death of Mr. Kurtz. 


628 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Dr. J. G. Schmucker who was his intimate friend, and who, 
after licensure, during his pastorate at Quickel’s studied Hebrew 
with him, speaks highly of his attainments in the oriental languages; 
he also speaks highly of the fervor, earnestness and profitableness 
of his preaching, as well as of his oreat spirituality. His funeral 
services were conducted by the Reformed pastor, Geistereit, and 
the Moravian pastor, Rondthaler. 


During the vacancy of nearly two years which followed his 
death, the congregation must have depended on supplies. 





ke es 


aS Ge ot 








A CHARACTERISTIC SERVICE IN CHRIST CHURCH 
ABOUT THE YEAR 1900 
(FROM AN OLD SKETCH.) 


On the 22nd of May, 1809, the members of the corporation 
met to take action as to the election of a pastor. A subscription 
for the support of the pastor had been circulated and an oppor- 
tunity given to the members to indicate their choice. It appeared 
that over two-thirds of all regular communing and contributing 
members chose Rev. John George Scbmucker,—it was resolved 
that a regular call be extended to him and a deputation be ap- 
pointed to present it to him at the meeting of Synod at Hanover, 


YorK County CONFERENCE 629 


May 12. In June it was reported that with the advice and ap- 
proval of the Ministerium he had accepted the call. 

It was on the first of August, 1809, that he took charge, al- 
though his family was not settled in the parsonage until in Sep- 
tember. Six congregations constituted the charge at that time, 
York, Quickel’s, Wolf’s, Holtzschwam, Kreutz Creek and Chock- 
ley. In 1820 the charge consisted of three congregations, probably 
York, Quickel’s and Wolf’s to which some years later Hoover’s 
was added. 

In 1811 steps were taken toward the erection of a new church. 
A meeting of the congregation was held to decide whether to re- 
pair the old or build a new one, and papers in behalf of each one 
were laid before the congregation. The majority in favor of a 
new church was so great that those who would have preferred the 
repair of the old gracefully submitted and not a signature was 
attached to the paper for that plan. So measures were taken to 
prepare for the great and costly undertaking. In December sub- 
scriptions were opened, dimensions decided upon, general plans 
fixed and the building committee appointed. On the 2nd day of 
July the cornerstone of the new Christ Church was laid, the di- 
mensions of which were 60 by 75 feet. The services were con- 
ducted by the Rev. Dr. H. E. Muhlenberg, J. Dan Kurtz and 
George Lochman, besides the pastor. 

During the whole time in which the church was in course of 
construction the German Reformed congregation generously 
granted the Lutherans the alternate use of their church. 

On the Ist of May, 1814, the new church was solemnly dedi- 
cated to the worship of God, the service of consecration was 
prepared and the act performed by the Rev. Fred. Valent. Mels- 
heimer of Hanover; who else besides the pastor the records do 
not show. During the erection of the church it became necessary 
to build a new school house in 18138, which was done under the 
supervision of Jacob Upp and Jacob Eichelberger. On April 27, 
1815, 2 subscription was begun for completing the tower and 
erecting an enclosing wall. The cost of all this work was great 
and most vigorous efforts were needed for many years afterward 
to pay off the debt incurred. A record of bill paid in the erection 
of the church itself amounts to $18,590.74. The whole amount 
of the first subscription payable in 1812-1813 was $12,181.39. 
A second subscription for the steeple and wall in 1815 amounted 
to $1,823.32. <A third subscription to pay the debt in 1819-1820 
amounted to $2,316.87. After all payments previously made 
there still remained a debt which in December, 1824, was after an 
elaborate and judicial exactitude and care apportioned to the 
members according to their ability to pay as shown in the county 
assessments; the amount so apportioned was $1,747.75. But even 
this action did not result in the extinction of the debt arising from 
the erection of the church, as in 1829 a committee was appointed 


630 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


to try to remove it, and in 1833, $1,500 was still to be raised for 
that purpose. 

In June, 1817, the Ministerium met at York for the fourth 
time. There were present 38 ordained ministers, 18 licentiates 
and 34 lay delegates, and 33 ministers were absent. Dr. George 
Lochman was president, Dr. Chr. Endress, Secretary and Rev. 
Henry A. Muhlenberg, Treasurer. In that meeting the confer- 
ence in Ohio asked to form a separate synod. It was the third 
centennial commemoration of the Reformation and the president 
was instructed to invite the German Reformed Synod, the Mo- 
ravian, Episcopal and the Presbyterian churches to unite in the 
commemoration. 

In 1827 permission was given to the Sunday School to meet 
in the church in the summer, which-is the first mention of it. In 
1828 a seal was adopted by the eorporation. In 1829 lamps were 
purchased for the church for evening services. In 1830 ground 
was purchased from Mr. Baumgardner, situate on Duke Street 
for a burial place. In 1832 the use of the small bell was granted 
to the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg until its return should 
be demanded by the church council. 

When the public discussion of the temperance question began, 
both Dr. Schmucker and the assistant minister, Mr. Oswald, were 
deeply interested in it and very zealous in advocacy. So fierce 
was the opposition that personal violence was at times threatened, 
and the salary of Dr. Schmucker dependent on voluntary contri- 
butions fell off one half in one year. But the pastors were firm 
and in earnest, and of course in time the community gave them 
but the higher honor. In 1838 the council decided that the church 
should not be used for meetings in favor of, or in opposition of 
the temperance movement. 

It is probable that the English services began in about 1820, 
for in that year a petition was presented to the council asking 
for such services. The petition was submitted to the congrega- 
tion. The English services were held at first only in the evenings. 
Dr. J. G. Morris says that they were announced by some distinct 
mode of ringing the bells and that the sexton waited on the pastor 
to know whether he should ring either English or German. The 
addition of the English services in the evening was to a great 
extent an addition to the pastor’s labors, as the three country 
congregations made afternoon services necessary, and with in- 
creasing years the burden grew heavier for the pastor, so that he 
decided to secure an assistant. Of course he did not take this 
step without careful consultation with prudent faithful elders and 
members, but it 1s thought that he took it on his own responsibility 
without official action of the church council, as I find no action 
on the subject recerded until years afterward when a question 
was raised as to the relation of the assistant to the corporation. 
In 1829 Rev. Jonathan Oswald, who was licensed by the West 


YorK County CONFERENCE 631 


Pennsylvania Synod, October 7th, became assistant minister, and 
the arrangement was then made that he should take entire charge 
of Wolf’s and Hoover’s churches, in which the services were Ger- 
man and preach in Christ Church in English on three Sunday 
evenings out of four and on the fourth Sunday in the morning, 
at which time Dr. Schmucker preached at Quickel’s church. This 
provision of regular and frequent services in English was with 
great Wisdom made at York early enough to save the congregation 
from severe losses which here were threatened and which in so 
many other places were endured. 

The English pastor and services were at first merely suffered 
by the corporation. The services were restrained in number by 
fixed limits, the corporation furnished no part of the support of 
the English preacher who received his support from special pay- 
ments by those who desired such services. The church council 
after a legal examination decided that they might recognize Mr. 
Oswald as the pastor’s assistant, but that they could not under 
their corporate powers add to their number any persons to collect 
his salary. So the English might take care of themselves which 
they did. 

Towards the close of the year 1835 Dr. Schmucker gave notice 
of his purpose to resign the pastoral care of Christ church. Rev. 
A. H. Lochman was invited by the church council to preach on 
New Year’s Day, 1836, and the Rev. J. Oswald in German on 
January 10th. An election was held February 7, at which time 
Mr. Lochman was nominated by the corporation and chosen by 
the congregation and a regular call was sent to him which he ac- 
cepted. No little feeling was aroused in the congregation with 
reference to the processes or the result of the election. Mr. Oswald 
had been for over six years the pastor of the English portion of 
the congregation, and they were warmly attached to him and 
desired that he should become the successor of Dr. Schmucker to 
whom his relation had been most cordial. On the other hand, the 
large majority preferred German, and their fears were awakened 
lest the English interest should grow dangerously strong, so that 
they were not favorably disposed toward Mr. Oswald who was 
identified with that interest. Such feelings divided the election, 
and not the fact that either Mr. Oswald or Mr. Lochman was more 
accomplished as German or English preacher, or in any other 
respect to be preferred to the other. But God overrules even the 
infirmities of men to the advancement of his kingdom. The 
election had two very desirable results, it secured to Christ church 
the services for a life time of one who is and ever has been loved and 
honored wherever he is known, and it secured the establishment 
of an exclusively English Lutheran Church, which however diffi- 
cult at first, proved of incalculable value and insured the future 
perpetual enlargement of our church in this place. 

In April, 1836, the ministry of Dr. J. G. Schmucker closed. 


632 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


It is fitting that something should be said of one who occupied for 
so long a time and during so important a period this prominent 
pastorate at York, whose memory is still fresh among our aged 
people, and whose remains our loving care guards beside the church 
erected during his ministry. In person he was of medium stature, 
rather thick set but not corpulent; his complexion was dark and 
his body very erect. His character was usually symmetrical and 
well balanced, and his temper so placid or so well under control! 
that even his own household never saw it ruffled. Dr. J. G. Morris 
says he “was one of the most unaffectedly polite men I ever saw; 
he was so regardful of the feelings of others, so careful to avoid 
wounding them, so forbearing toward their faults, so condescend- 
ing to inferiors and so patient with gainsayers, as to compel their 
admiration and respect.’ As a preacher he was most careful in 
his preparation, of sound judgment in the selection of matter, 
methodical in arrangement, earnest in delivery, tender in feeling, 
deeply serious, and all these elements united in making him an 
admirable and most successful preacher. In the study he was 
very diligent, procuring from Europe in each year if possible a few 
books and thoroughly mastering them, so that he had his whole 
library at command. He published a number of volumes chiefly 
connected with the prophecies. He contributed largely to the 
Evangelical Magazine in both series of that name. In all the 
great movements in the church he was so prominent that to name 
them is to name an important sphere of his labor. In the estab- 
lishment of the General Synod, of the Synod of the West Penn- 
sylvania, of the Theological Seminary, of the Pennsylvania Col- 
lege, he had a prominent part. He was a warm friend, and at 
his death Senior Vice-President of the American Tract Society. 
He was beautiful in his life and peaceful in his death and the 
memory of him is fragrant among us. 

He continued to reside in York, still preaching for years at 
Quickel’s, until in 1852, when he removed to the home of some of 
his children at Williamsburg. He died October 7, 1854. His 
funeral discourse was preached by Dr. Benj. Kurtz and his re- 
mains deposited in front of this church. The burial service 
was read by the Rev. J. Oswald and the sermon preached by Dr. 
Lochman. 

He was secretary of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, 1810- 
1812. President, 1819-1821. President of the Synod of West 
Pennsylvania at its establishment for several years, and again in 
1884, 1835, and perhaps in after years. In 1825 the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the University of 
Pennsylvania. 

He was first married to Elizabeth Gross from Quickel’s con- 
gregation, by whom he had twelve children; she died in 1819; 
second in 1821, to Anna Marie Hoffman of Baltimore, by whom 
he had seven children. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 633 


Jonathan Oswald, D. D., was born in Washington County, 
Maryland, December 20, 1805. He was the son of John and Eva 
Oswald, nee Gardner, and his father was a farmer. His parents 
were of Swabian and Alsatian origin, and on the father’s side of 
long generations of Lutherans, his mother the descendant of 
Mennonites. 

After having pursued theological studies for sixteen or eigh- 
teen months be went to Gettysburg and was present at the in- 
auguration of Prof. 8. 8. Schmucker as Professor in the Seminary, 
and was the second student registered, Jacob Kaempfer hay- 
ing preceeded him. After pursuing the whole course of the 
theological study at that institution, then occupying two years, 
and being graduated, he was examined and licensed by the Synod 
of West Pennsylvania, October 7, 1829, Rev. John Ruthrauff by 
whom he was baptised, being president. The honorary degree of 
D. D. was conferred on him in 1860 by Pennsylvania College. 

Augustus Hoffman Lochman, D. D., was the son of Dr. 
George Lochman and Susan Hoffman, whose sister Anna Maria 
was the second wife of Dr. J. G. Schmucker. He was born, 
October 5, 1802, in the parsonage of Salem Church, Lebanon, 
Pennsylvania, of which his father was pastor. He attended the 
parochial school of Salem church, of which Mr. Jensel and Mr. 
Strein were teachers, until in 1815 his father removed to Harris- 
burg, where he was entered as a pupil inthe Harrisburg Academy, 
of which Rey. Mr. Todd, and afterward Mr. Hamilton was prin- 
cipal. In 1822 he was sent to Philadelphia and entered the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania in the Junior Class, half advanced, where 
he was graduated in July, 1823. He had begun the course of 
theology under his father, before leaving the University; after his 
eraduation he continued his studies, having as his fellow students 
Frederick and Jonathan Ruthrauff, J. Nic. Stroh and David 
Eyster. His father was one of the pastors to whom, in the absence 
at that time of any theological seminary, students were committed 
by the Ministerium. He was licensed as a candidate at the 
meeting of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, at Carlisle, June 16, 
1824. He was sent out in connection with Rev. J. N. Stroh, who 
had been licensed in 1823, as Reiseprediger to western Pennsyl- 
vania and spent some time in visiting congregations and scattered 
members in Huntingdon, Centre, Venango, Warren, Crawford, 
and Erie Counties. The congregation at Lewistown was organ- 
ized by them on this journey. After his return from this tour he 
became pastor of a new charge in Cumberland County formed by 
the separation from the charge of Rev. Ben]. Keller, of Carlisle 
of the Stone Church, Trindle Spring and Langsdorff (New Kings- 
ton) congregations. He resided in Mechanicsburg where as yet 
there was no congregation. While living there he was married, 
July 28, 1825, to Anna Maria Partenheimer, of Philadelphia. 
When his father’s strength failed the son moved to Harrisburg 


634. History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


early in 1826, assisting him until his death, July 10, 1826, when he 
became his father’s successor in the Harrisburg charge, which 
consisted of the Harrisburg, Middletown and Schoop congrega- 
tions. He continued in this charge 
until his removal to York in April, 
1836. Here for 44 years he was 
the diligent and faithful pastor of 
the old mother church of York, 
and honorable successor to the line 
of distinguished men who had held 
the pastorates before him. For more 
than a century the pastorate of 
Christ Church was occupied by an 
unbroken succession of men who 
held high places in the councils of 
the church, who were eminent in 
their generation, prominent in all 
good works, the memory of whom 
shall live. 
Rev. Auc. H. Locuman, D.D. In all general movements he 
had taken an active part. He 
was one of the first on the Board of Trustees of Pennsylvania 
College, elected in 1832, and thus continued to serve but for one 
brief intermission for 50 years. The honorary degree of Doctor 
of Divinity was conferred on him in 1856 by this institution. He 
was trustee of Franklin College and greatly aided the measures 
by which a portion of its funds and Trustees were transferred to 
Pennsylvania College. He had been almost continuously one of 
the directors of the Seminary and for many years its president, 
in which capacity he had delivered the charge at the installation 
of no less than three professors. He had been repeatedly chosen 
as the president of Synod, and frequently as a delegate to the 
General Synod of which body he had been both Secretary and 
President. In connection with considerable literary activity, Dr. 
Lochman made a number of valuable translations from the German, 


As a pastor he was greatly beloved and eminently successful. 
He was the familiar friend of the households under his care. His 
great kindliness of character and his warm personal interest in 
them awakened strong attachment. 


Important changes occurred during the pastorate of Dr. 
Lochman to which he referred in a memorial sermon which he 
delivered in the congregation in October, 1867 :— 


“Soon after my taking charge a number of the members of 
the congregation formed another purely English congregation, 
called Saint Paul’s, and chose the Rev. J. Oswald as pastor, which 
by the blessing of God has become a large and flourishing church. 





YorRK CouNntTYy CONFERENCE 635 


“In the course of time the younger members not understanding 
the German language, it was thought advisable to build a church 
for their accommodation. In ‘accordance with a resolution of the 
vestry, the consent of the congregation having been obtained, 
preparations were made and the corner-stone of a building 51 by 
70 was laid on the 25th of August, 1850, and in due time was 
completed and dedicated. This congregation under the pastoral 
care of Rev. A. W. Lilly, has also prospered, and is now one of 
the prominent cengregations of York, (Zion’s Church). 


“The next event of importance was the refitting of the church, 
as it stood in great need of it. In 1852 this was resolved upon, 
A new, more modern pulpit was put in, with a large altar railing, 
six additional pews, new roof, carpets, gas, and the whole church 
with the steeple was painted. 

‘Next, the Union Lutheran church over the bridge was built 
to accommodate our members and persons living in that part of 
the town. And a few years ago, an exclusively German congre- 
gation was organized principally by members of our church. This 
congregation has built a very fine church. In addition to these 
three congregations have been organized within our bounds in 
the country, and have erected commodious houses for worship. 
With all these changes cur congregation appears as strong as ever. 
God has through these forty years taken care-of us, and we com- 
mit her interests to Him for the future.” 


In 1880 under the sense of approaching infirmity, Dr. Loch_ 
man presented his resignation as pastor, to take effect September, 
Ist, but continued to discharge the duties of pastor till the close 
of 1881, pending the arrival of his successor. As the next pastor- 
ate did not begin until June of the following year, Rev. J. H. 
Fritz served during the interim. 

After Dr. Lochman’s retirement from the active ministry, he, 
with his wife, made their home with their daughter, Mrs. 8. L. 
Huber, No. 19 E. Market Street. At this residence the venerable 
preacher entered into rest on the 29th of December, 1891. The 
remains were buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery on the 31st, amid 
a large concourse of people. The services were conducted by the 
Rev. Dr. Lilly, pastor of Zion’s Lutheran Church, assisted by 
Rev. Dr. Wedekind of New York, and Rev. J. H. Menges, of 
Manheim, Pa. Dr. Lilly delivered the funeral address, giving a 
sketch of a noble life and an unusually long and useful ministry. 


636 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Following Dr. Lochman the 
Rev. G. W. Enders, D. D., began 
a pastorate of almost equal length 
with that of his immediate pred- 
ecessor. Having entered the 
ministry in 1868, he served the 
Lutheran church as one of her 
most able and aggressive pastors 
for over 52 years. His last charge, 
Christ Church, York, had been 
served almost 40 years when he 
was stricken and thus compelled 
to terminate his active service. 

Dr. George W. Enders was born 
October 26, 1841, in the village 
ef Norheim, Germany; he was 
Rav GEORGE WlENDERS D.D.. her son or Jacob *andwilizapeun 

Boyer Enders. 

He received his primary education in the German schools 
which be attended until he was 13 years of age. 

In 1854 Dr. Enders landed in America and went to Peapack, 
N. J. In the district school at Peapack he received his first in- 
struction in English. Later he entered Hartwick Seminary, N. 
Y., and after completing both the classical and theological courses, 
was graduated in 1868. He was licensed to preach the same year 
and was ordained in 1869. 

During his last two years in the Seminary he preached at 
Maryland, Otsego County, N. Y., where he organized a congre- 
gation and built a church. His first charge was at Bridgton, N. 
J., where he spent four years as a pastor of St. John’s church. 
While at Bridgton he took a post-graduate course at the Lutheran 
Seminary in Philadelphia, and also a course of lectures at the 
University of Pennsylvania. He assumed the pastorate of St. 
James’ church, Gettysburg, May 1, 1873. After two years of 
service in the college town, Dr. Enders resigned because of poor 
health and spent the next two years in recuperating. He accepted 
a call to St. Paul’s church, Richmond, Indiana, June 1, 1876. 
After spending six years in the Indiana town, Dr. Enders came to 
Christ church, York, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1882. 

His was a ministry marked by special ability and devotion 
and success. In the basement of the church (now Lecture Room 
and Side Rooms), the Sunday School grew so rapidly that in 1890 
the present commodious Sunday School Building (Chapel) was 
erected on the rear of the Church lot, and designed on modern 
lines with class rooms radiating from the superintendent’s desk. 
This building was erected with all equipments at a cost of $15,000. 
and has not as yet been superceded for economical seating and 
acoustics. In this building the school became a veritable “Bee 





YorK County CONFERENCE 637 


Hive” from which with the passing vears a number of Lutheran 
churches have swarmed, establishing hives for themselves. 

Dr. Enders occupied many positions of influence and honor 
in the work of the church. In connection with his pastoral work 
he served as President of Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, 
Pa., for three years. He had been a director of the Theologica! 
Seminary at Gettysburg for 15 years and had also served as 
director of Wittenburg College, Springfield, Ohio. Wittenbure 
College conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts in 1877, 
and in 1879, the degree of Doctor of Divinity. For 17 years Dr. 
Enders was a member of the Board of Home Missions of the former 
General Synod and for a period its president. 

Dr. Enders was married to Miss Phoebe A. Miller, an active 
worker in the church at Friesburg, N. J. She was a devoted and 
efficient pastor’s wife until her death, March 15, 19138. Eight 
vears later, in June, 1921, after an active pastorate in the Luth- 
eran Church of fifty-two years, thirty-nine of which were spent 
as pastor of Christ Church, the faithful pastor was stricken in the 
pulpit. Death came Wednesday morning, November 9, 1921, 
about 2:30 o’clock, due to angina pectoris, after an illness of more 
than six months. Their surviving children are Rev. George W. 
Enders, D. D., of York, Pennsylvania, Rev. Martin Luther End- 
ers, D. D., of Baltimore, Md., Mr. Paul M. Enders, Asbury 
Park, N. J., and Mrs. George B. Young, wife of Dr. Young, San 
Diego, Calif. 

The funeral services were held Saturday, November 12th, 
and were attended by more than 1500 persons, including scores of 
fellow clergymen of the Lutheran and other churches. Many and 
very handsome floral tributes bore testimony of the love for and 
the wide influence of the departed pastor. Rev. Dr. H. H. Weber, 
General Secretary of the Board of Home Missions and Church 
Extension of the United Lutheran Church in America, who had 
supplied the pulpit of Christ church during Dr. Enders’ prolonged 
illness had charge of the service and paid a fine tribute to the 
character and work of the deceased. Revs. Harry Stock, D. D.., 
of Carlisle, Pa., president of the West Pennsylvania Synod, and 
W. 1. Redcay, D. D., secretary, assisted in the services. Inter- 
ment was made in Prospect Hill cemetery. 

Dr. Enders was of very strong character with unusual gifts 
of mind and heart. He was a man of industry and devotion in 
the work of the church. Asa preacher he had few superiors, his 
discourse being edifying and spiritual. He was particularly ef- 
fective in indoctrinating and training the young and thus had 
placed his ministry upon a permanent basis. He was a splendid 
organizer and kept the manifold activities of his church in loyal 
and enthusiastic activity. Hence while his leadership has now 
departed, the benefits of his organizing influence will abide for 
many years to come, both in the local and general activities of 


638 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the church. He rests from his labors but his works as a faithful 
minister of the gospel and as a devoted under-shepherd will abide 
forever. 

Under Dr. Enders’ able leadership strong and godly men stood 
forth to assist in carrying on the work. In connection with the 
development of the Sunday School 
too much credit cannot be given 
to Mr. J. A. Dempwolf who is 
still superintendent, having been 
elected to the office, July 15, 1882. 
On Sunday, July 16, 1922, a mem- 
orial tablet was unveiled in the 
Chapel, with appropriate services, 
as a tribute to the forty years of 
untiring service rendered by this 
faithful servant of the Lord. His 
leadership has been characterized as 
singularly noble in spirit and broad 
in viewpoint. As an active mem- 
ber of one of the Boards of the 
church he was able to keep the 

Vint] MAS DONO Sunday School in touch with the 

larger affairs of our own church. 
His work as a professional and business man enabled him 
to give valuable suggestions learned from his contact with 
business affairs. From his associations with the leaders, not 
only of our own branch of the church, but also with those respon- 
sible for the work of some of our fellow denominations, he brought 
to the work during the past forty years, vision, clarity of thought 
and practical workmanship. 

After the death of Dr. Enders, Dr. Weber continued to serve 
as acting pastor, rendering most valuable service until he retired, 
April 30, 1922. 

Rev. Henry H. Weber, late General Secretary of the Board 
of Home Missions and Church Extension of the General Synod, 
Lutheran, was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pa., on August 4th, 
1860. His parents were Germans. Early education was received 
in the German parochial schools of Philadelphia and in 1868 he 
was sent to Wacker’s private German and English Academy in 
Baltimore, Md. After graduation there he attended the public 
schools in Baltimore, and in 1878 received the prize from the Vienna 
Austria Exposition, as the best boy writer in the public schools 
of Baltimore. He next attended Baltimore City College, after 
which he was in the wholesale dry goods and notion business 
for four years. In the fall of 1878 he entered Pennsylvania Col- 
lege, Gettysburg, Pa., and graduated with second honor in 1882. 
He received Honorable Mention in connection with the Freshman 
Prize, was Librarian of Phrena Society, Orator for the Anniver- 





YorRK County CONFERENCE 639 


sary, and delivered on graduation day the German Oration. He 
pursued a three year course at the Theological Seminary in Gettys- 
burg, and graduated in 1885. During bis seminary course he 
supplied for a time the pulpit of Zion’s Lutheran Church, New- 
ville, Pa., and Trinity Church, Hagerstown, Md. In 1883 he 
organized St. Luke’s Lutheran congregation in Baltimore, Md., 
which today owns the fine stone structure on 3rd Avenue and 
Roland Avenue. Upon graduation, he was sent again by the 
Board of Home Missions to Baltimore, Md., and after a short 
time organized Grace English Lutheran Church on Broadway. 
During his stay of four years there, the congregation grew to a 
membership of over 600, a Sunday School cf over 700, and a 
property worth $30,000. The congregation is today the largest 
in the Synod of Maryland, and also one of the most liberal. In 
1889 he was called by the Board of Church Extension to the 
General Secretaryship and has served in this capacitv with marked 
success for 34 years. The finances are in good shape and the 
systemized work of the Board has been a model for that of many 
other similar organizations. Doctor Weber has had almost phe- 
nomenal success in securing money, especially at the dedication 
of churches. A minister who is very close to him and knows of 
his work, says, that in years of his Secretaryship, he has secured 
for Churches and the Board all told, nearly Four Million Dollars. 
Dr. Weber was married in 1890 to Miss Emma Crist of Baltimore, 
Md., and their married life has been one of great joy. Dr. Weber 
is business Manager of The Lutheran Missionary Journal, having 
a circulation of 13,000—and of The Children’s Missionary, having 
one of 11,000. He has been a large contributor to all the weekly 
church papers, having perhaps furnished more matter than any 
one connected with the paper, except the Editors. He is a pro- 
lific gatherer of church news and personals. He received the de- 
gree of Doctor of Divinity from Gettysburg College in 1902. 

On June 11, 1922, a call was extended to Rev. Walter H. 
Traub, pastor of Trinity Lutheran church, Hughesville, Pa., which 
was accepted by him to become effective July 23d. 

The One Hundred and Ninetieth Anniversary of Christ 
Church was celebrated with appropriate services September 23, 
1923. Dr. D. Burt Smith of Philadelphia, editor of the Parish 
and Church School, preached the sermon in the morning, and Dr. 
Geo. W. Nicely, President of the West Pennsylvania Synod, brought 
the evening message. Upon this occasion plans were announced 
involving the expenditure of $100,000. These plans included the 
remodelling of the interior of the present church, the improve- 
ment and enlargement of the chapel, and the erection of a parish 
house, with an equipped gymnasium and rooms for social purposes. 
The attendance at Sunday School on this day, in spite of a driving 
rain, was 1005. 

Pursuant to the plans Sunday, February 10, 1924, was se- 


640 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


lected as a day for securing the necessary funds to carry out the 
project. Rev. A. Pohlman, D. D., pastor of Temple church, 
Philadelphia, conducted the services and received cash and pled- 
ves amounting to $104,450. Work was begun immediately and 
will be carried on as speedily as possible. 





REV. DAVID SYLVESTER MARTIN 
Pastor oF GRAcE LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


David 8. Martin was born on 
a farm, in Penn Township, York 
County, Pa., on November 8th, 
1880. His parents were David 
Franklin and Mary Nonemaker 
Martin. On January 26th, 1881, 
he was baptized by Rev. J. C. 
Kohler, D. D., pastor of St. 
Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 
Hanover, Pa. 

When the Third (now St. 
Paul’s) Lutheran Church of Han- 
over was organized, his father 
and mother became charter mem- 
bers; consequently from an early 
age he attended the Sunday 
School and services of this church 
and later was confirmed by Rev. 
5S. E. Herring, then pastor, on 
April 7th, 1895. 

He attended the country school at the little red school house 
adjoining his father’s farm. At the age of 16, he entered the 
Eichelberger Academy in Hanover, where he prepared for college. 

In the fall of 1898, he entered Pennsylvania College at Gettys- 
burg and was graduated in the spring of 1902. The next fall he 
entered the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, graduating in 
the spring of 1905 with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. In 
1907, he received the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma 
Mater. 

He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod, in Christ 
Lutheran Church at Gettysburg, on October 12th, 1904, and was 
ordained by the same Synod, on October 11th, 1905, in the First 
Lutheran Church at Chambersburg, Pa. 

His first pastorate was at New Freedom, Pa., which extended 
over 7 years and | month, from May Ist, 1905 to June 4th, 1912. 
During this pastorate, Fissel’s Union Church was built. 





YorK County CONFERENCE 641 


For the next five years and five months, he was pastor of the 
Hallam Charge, at Hallam, Pa. 

On November 4th, 1912, he became pastor of St. Paul’s 
Lutheran Church at New Cumberland, Pa. At this time, St. 
Paul’s congregation withdrew from the West Fairview Charge to 
form an independent charge, of which he became the first pastor. 
In 1913, St. Paul’s church was practically rebuilt and greatly 
beautified, at a cost of $8,500. In connection with his pastoral 
work at New Cumberland, he was commissioned as a Lutheran 
chaplain at the Marsh Run Ordinance Depot during the World 
War. 

He entered upon the pastorate of Grace Lutheran Church, 
York sean eiViarchtist 1931; 
was erected, which at the present time, likely, is the best and most 
modern parsonage in the Synod. 

With the exception of his brief pastorate at New Cumberland, 
his entire life was spent in York County. 

On January Ist, 1921, he was appointed statistical secretary 
of the West Pennsylvania Synod, which office he still retains. 

He was married to Mary Sidney Byers, of Littlestown, Pa., 
in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, in Littlestown, on June 17th, 
1908. Rev. J. J. Hill, D. D., pastor of the congregation and Rev. 
A. M. Heilman, D. D., of Hanover, officiated. Their only child 
is Richard Byers Martin, born April 27th, 1909. | 





GRACH EU DAE RAN.-GEURGCH YORK. PA: 
Rev. Davin 8. Martin, PASTOR 


At the fall meeting of the York County Conference, in 1906, 
the Conference advised that steps be taken to organize a Lutheran 
Church in the Thirteenth Ward of York. The matter was com- 
mitted to the York County Missionary Committee, who with the 
Rev. G. A. Livingston canvassed the field. The canvass revealed 
the necessity of a church in the Thirteenth Ward. Rev. Living- 
ston was immediately employed as missionary to take charge of 
the work. A Sunday School was organized, in the old Brick School 
House, on Smith Street. on Sunday, January 20, 1907, with 150 
members. On March 3, 1907, the congregation was organized 
with 100 members. 

During the summer of 1907, the congregation purchased a 
spacious lot on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Water Streets, 
on which there was erected a commodious chapel, which was dedi- 
eated on Sunday, October 4, 1908. Total cost of lot and chapel 
was $15,700. Grace Church possesses one of the best church 
sites in the city. In 1921, a splendid parsonage was built at a 
cost of $13,500. 


642 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In the sixteen years of her history, Grace Church made 
steady and substantial progress. Today, the Sunday School has 
an enrollment of 525 members and the congregation numbers 350, 
with all the necessary organizations active. It conducts its own 





GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Week-Day Bible School with an average enrollment of 138 
children. 

The following pastors have successfully served the congre- 
gation: Rev. G. A. Livingston, 1907-1913; Rev. Charles G. Aurand, 
1913-1918; Rev. Paul 8S. Wagner, 1918-1920; Rev. Dawid S. 
Martin, 1921 ——. 





REV. W. E. SALTZGIVER 


Pastor oF MrssiAnH LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, Pa. 


Rev. W. E. Saltzgiver was born near Jefferson, York Co., Pa., 
May 9, 1890. After attending the public and High Schools in 
Codorus Township, he entered Gettysburg College in the fall of 
1908, with the purpose of preparation for the gospel ministry, 
and graduated from that institution with the class of 1912. Fol- 
lowing graduation he entered the Theological Seminary at Gettys- 
burg and graduated from there in 1915. During the summer 
months of 1914 he served the Ickesburg Lutheran Charge, Ickes- 
burg, Pa., very acceptably. 

He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod at its 
meeting in Hanover, Pa., in 1914. In May of the following year 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 643 


he received a call to the Uniontown Lutheran Charge, Uniontown, 
Md. He was transferred to the Maryland Synod, by which body 
he was ordained at its meeting in Middletown, Md., in 1915. 

During the time of his pastorate in Uniontown, many ad- 
ditions were made to the church membership. 

Considerable improvements and repairs were also made in 
the various churches of which he was pastor. 

After serving this charge for three and one-half years, he 
resigned as pastor to accept a call tendered him by St. John’s 
Lutheran Church, Parkville, Md., a beautiful suburb of Baltimore, 
Md. Formerly this Church had been an independent German 
Lutheran Congregation and mainly served by pastors from the 
North American Evangelical Synod. Due to various factions the 
church had been torn to pieces and so the few who were left pe- 
titioned the Maryland Synod for help. The Synod accordingly 
received them into its body in 1918. When the newly elected 
pastor came on the field there was a membership of 20. By 
perseverance and diplomacy the pastor succeeded in reconciling 
the various parties concerned, and after a pastorate of four years 
the membership increased to 175. Extensive improvements were 
also made to the church. <A large Sunday School building was 
erected to care properly for the rapidly growing Sunday School. 

On January 1, 1923, he resigned to accept the call to Messiah 
Lutheran Church, York, Pa., where he has been laboring since 
February 1, 1923. 


644 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCHS YORK; PA: 


Rev. W. E. SALtTzGiver, Pastor 


Messiah Evangelical 
Lutheran Church was or- 
gvanized June 30, 1894, with 
a membership of 26, by the 
York Co. Missionary Com- 
mittee. The church build- 
ing was erected at Green 
Hill Work, Comm Parsing 
services were in charge of 
Rev. Geo. W. Enders, D. 
D., who also preached the 
sermon, based on 1 Cor. 
3:9. The constitution rec- 
ommended by the Board 
of Home Missions of the 
General Synod was adopted. 
Application for admission 
into the West Pennsy!vania 
Synod was made at the Sy- 
nodical sessions held at 
Chambersburg, October 10- 
15,°" 1894. SIn S20 ciokier 
1896, it was enrolled. A 
Sabbath School was organ- 

MessiAn LUTHERAN CHURCH ized June 16, 1894, with a 

York, Pa. membership of sixty-nine. 

During the summer of 

1894 Rev. W. F. Bare, then a Junior at Seminary, had charge of 
the work. He was very successful in his labors. 

The ground-breaking service was held in April, 1894. Rev. 
P. Livingston conducted the service, assisted by Revs. H. H. 
Weber, D. D., and T. B. Thomas. Rev. P. Anstadt broke ground. 
The lot upon which the church was erected was 66x70 ft., valued 
at $300. Joseph Ziegler donated $20C of this amount. 

The corner-stone was laid July 1, 1894. Rev. P. Livingston 
preached the sermon based on 1 Peter 2:6. Revs. A. W. Lilly, 
D. D., M. J. Alleman, D. D., A. G. Fastnacht and A. Bell assisted 
at the services. The cornerstone was donated by J. A. Dempwolf. 

The church was dedicated October 7, 1894. Rev. H. H. 
Weber, D. D., preached the sermon in the morning and had charge 
of the finances, assisted by Rev. P. Livingston and W. F. Bare. 
The indebtedness of $1100 was secured. In the evening Rev. EF. 
J. Wolf, D. D., preached the dedicatory sermon, and Rev. A. W. 
Lilly, performed the dedicatory act, setting apart the house to 
the worship of Almighty God. The church was a frame structure, 











YoRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 645 


with a tower, recess pulpit and memorial windows. The building 
was 30x50 feet, with an annex 20x30 feet. Then entire cost was 
$2700. 

The first communion was held by Rey. Albert Bell on Jan- 
uary 2/7, 1895. 

March 38, 1895, Rev. Adam Stump began to supply this con- 
eregation, and continued for eighteen months. For some time 
afterwards the church was under the personal supervision of the 
York Co. Missionary, Rev. Charles W. Baker. 

On May 9, 1898, Rev. Moses Grossman began his labors as 
the first regularly called pastor and was installed on May 15, of 
the same year. 

March 5, 1898, St. Luke’s of Yorkana, Christ of Spry, and 
Messiah united into a Charge called the Green Hill Charge. On 
September 1, 1899, Rev. Grossman severed his relations with this 
charge. 

On October 6, 1899, Rev. E. Manges became pastor of this 
charge and served until June 1, 1902. During this pastorate a 
fine bell was secured. The credit for securing this bell belongs 
largely to Messrs. John Landis and Marcellus Kauffman. 

From July 1, 1902, to October 1, 1903, the charge was sup- 
plied by Rev. L. G. Stauffer. On April 26, 1904, Rev. Stauffer 
became their regular pastor and served in this capacity until 
November 25, 1906. 

Rev. Paul Glatfelter was pastor from September 18, 1907, to 
November 25, 1910. , 

P. B. Fasold labored here from September 1, 1911, to Sep- 
tember 19, 1913. 

Rev. J. H. Keller began his duties on December 19, 1913. 
Heretofore this congregation was continually struggling for ex- 
istence, due to the unwise location of the church. Consequently 
on August 17, 1914, a communication from Rev. J. H. Keller was 
sent to the President of the Synod, setting forth the fact that after 
a conference with the Missionary Committee of the York Co. Con- 
ference, a congregational meeting was authorized to decide on the 
removal of the church to a new location, the same to be approved 
by the President of the Synod and the officers of the York Co. 
Conference. August 18, 1914, a congregational meeting was held 
and the following action taken: Resolved, that the church be moved 
to a more suitable and better location, the time for such removal 
to be determined later according as conditions, means and cir- 
cumstances permit. This request was granted by the Synod. 

Consequently the property was removed from the outskirts 
of the city into the city limits, Wheatfield and Prospect Streets, 
and there enlarged and rebuilt. The cost of rebuilding and en- 
larging was $4700. The dedication took place July 18, 1915. 
Rey. H. H. Weber, D. D., had charge of the service in the morning, 
and the President of the Synod, Rev. J. J. Hill, D. D., preached 


‘Vd ‘MHOA ‘HOYHONHD NVYHHINT HVISSHIN JO TIONNOD GNV YOLSVd 


LVANIA SYNOD 





HistoRY OF WeEsT PENN 





646 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 647 


the dedicatory sermon in the evening. In addition to being en- 
larged, rebuilt and remodeled, the church had been painted and 
frescoed, electric lighted, steam heated, beautified with art glass 
windows, newly carpeted, new chancel furnishings installed, pulpit, 
lectern and altar. 

On January 1, 1916, Messiah Church and Emanuel Church, 
Windsor Park, were constituted a charge to be known as the East 
York Charge. It was during this pastorate that Messiah member- 
ship began to grow, and too much credit cannot be given to Rev. 
Keller for his untiring efforts. He severed his relations with this 
church April 15, 1918. 

The next Pastor was Rev. F. D. Sutton who served from 
June 1, 1918, to January 4, 1921. During his pastorate the 
East York Charge was dissolved and Messiah and Augsburg 
Lutheran Churches, York, Pa., were united to be known as the 
Messiah-Augsburg Charge. ; 

The Rev. H. M. Bower was elected Pastor of this charge and 
began his labors May 22, 1921. During his pastorate Messiah 
petitioned the West Pennsylvania Synod that the Messiah-Augs- 
burg Charge be dissolved. This request was granted at the Oc- 
tober, 1922, sessions of the Synod. Rev. Bower resigned as 
Pastor of the Messiah-Augsburg Charge to take effect February 
1, 1923. He was elected pastor of Augsburg Lutheran Church, 
WOK ele 

Rev. W. E. Saltzgiver, the present pastor of Messiah Church, 
began his work February 1, 1923. The present membership is 
116. The church and parsonage are valued at $12,000, free from 
debt. 


REV. B. CLINTON RITZ* 
Pastor oF St. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, Pa. 


B. Clinton Ritz, son of Henry and Elizabeth Markel Ritz, 
born March 4, 1886. He was baptized in infancy, and was taken 
to worship regularly so that he was reared in the church as well 
as in the home. After being catechised and confirmed, he took 
an active part in the Sunday School and church work. He re- 
ceived his early education in the public schools of York Co., and 
later taught for several terms. Following his decision to enter 
the Christian ministry, he entered Gettysburg College, and con- 
tinued his studies through the Seminary. He was graduated from 
the latter in 1916. He was called to the pastorate of St. Matt- 
hews’ Lutheran Church, Schuylkill Haven, where he served for 





*See picture on page 452. 


648 History oF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


several years. Later he was called to the First English Lutheran 
Church, Columbia, Pa., where he continued to serve until Sep- 
tember, 1925, when he assumed the duties of his present pastorate, 
St. James’ Lutheran Church, York, Pa. 





ST. JAMES’ LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Rev. B. Ciinton Ritz, PAstor 





ST. JAMES EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


St. James’ Evangelical Lutheran Congregation was organized 
August 29, 1899, in the school house situated on the corner of 
Adams and Stanton Sts., (then West Manchester Township). 
The first pastor was the Rev. E. Lenhart. 

December 3, 1899; a lot, 50x230 ft., situated on the N. E. 
eorner of Adams and W. Market, was purchased and the congre- 
gation immediately began the erection of a church. This building 
was completed and dedicated May 19, 1901. The Rev. E. Len- 
hart continued to serve as pastor of this congregation until June 
1, 1902. 

The Rev. C. F. Jacobs became pastor of St. James’ September 
1, 1902, and was commissioned by the Board of Home Missions 
the same date. September 30, 1902, an additional lot, 32x230 ft. 
was purchased, making the holding of this congregation 82x230 ft’ 


YorK County CONFERENCE 649 


In 1905 the mortgage held by the Board of Church Extension 
was cancelled, and one year later a parsonage was erected. The 
continued growth of the congregation made it necessary to enlarge 
the church building, and this was done in 1909. Rev. Jacobs 
continued to serve the congregation until January 1, 1917. 

Rev. H. T. Bowersox became pastor April 15, 1917. In the 
fall of that vear the indebtedness of the congregation, amounting 
to $3000, was cancelled, leaving St. James’ free from debt for the 
first time in her history. With the debt gone, visions of a new, 
more modern and more confortable church edifice became clearer 
and clearer. A building fund was started and in the year 1921 
work was begun. The ground was broken in May, the corner 
stone laid in July and in March, 1922, the church was dedicated. 

This latest addition to the many fine Lutheran churches in 
York is built of brick, seats 800, was erected at a cost of $55,000. 
all of which was met on the day of dedication, except, $15,000. 

St. James’ is situated in the western section of York and with 
the rapid growth of this part of the city we have every reason to 
believe this will be one of our largest and most influential churches. 

The pastorate of Rev. H. T. Bowersox continued until July 
1, 1925. The present pastor, the Rev. B. C. Ritz, entered upon 
his duties on Sunday, September 20, 1925. 


REV. ALBERT BELL, D.-D. 
Pastor oF St. Lukr’s LUTHERAN CHuRCH, YORK, Pa. 


The subject of this sketcb, the 
son of Jonas and Catherine Ann 
Mickley Bell, was born Septem- 
ber 28, 1855, on his father’s 
farm in the Leitersburg district, 
Maryland, his parents being mem- 
bers of the Leitersburg church. 
He received his early training at 
the Longmeadow and Shank’s 
eountry schools during the civil 
war, both of which were greatly 
hampered and interfered with, 
by reason of war, having in- 
different teachers, mean equip- 
ment and short terms; and at 
the High School at Williamsport, 
the family having moved to near 
that town in the spring of 1865. 
He entered the Preparatory De- 





650 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


partment, Gettysburg, in the fall of 1872, taking the full course. 
He graduated from the College at Gettysburg in 1878, and from 
the Seminary in 1881. He was ordained by the Maryland Synod 
in 1881. 

He served the following charges: Reisterstown, Md., from 
July, 1881, to November, 1884; Newton, Iowa, December, 1884, 
to December, 1887; Williamsport, Pa., St. John’s, February, 1888, 
to January, 1890; Boiling Springs, Pa., October, 1890, to January, 
1894; and from January first, 1894, to the present he has been 
serving St. Luke’s, York, Pa. While pastor here the present 
comfortable parsonage and the substantial, commodious and well 
appointed church were erected. 

Rey. Bell served twenty-four years as the treasurer of the 
West Pennsylvania Synod. 

He was joined in wedlock on February 8, 1882, with Elizabeth 
Caroline Cashman, of Gettysburg, daughter of Daniel and Cath- 
erine Ann Weaner Cashman, from which union there were the 
following children: W. A. Russell; Albert Daniel, who died from 
Spanish influenza, in France, October 18, 1918, while serving as 
chaplain of the 310th Machine Gun Batallion; Ralph E., deceased 
June 27, 1918; and Katharine Anna Ways. 

Rev. Bell has represented his Synod at the meetings of the 
General Synod at Pittsburgh, Sunbury, Washington, D. C., and 
Akron, Ohio, and the United Lutheran Church, at Buffalo, N. Y. 
He was honored by his Alma Mater with the Pee title of 
Doctor of Divinity in 1917. 


YoRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 651 


pie DUKE SLU CERN GHURGH YORK, =PAj 


Rev. ALBERT BELL, D. D., Pastor 


St. Luke’s had its be- 
ginning in a new Sunday 
School, in the Armory on 
East Maple Street, a ne- 
elected and somewhat no- 
torious section of the city. 
The first session was held 
July 16,1882. Those form- 
ing it were members of 
Christ’s Lutheran Church, 
mostly active in the Sun- 
day School, who were dis- 
satisfied with a ruling of 
the C h urc h Council of 
Christ Congregation which 
took from the Sunday 
School all administrative 
authority, placing it with 
the Church Council. 

At a meeting in said 
Armory, October 8th, same 
year, a congregation was St. LuKe’s LUTHERAN CHURCH 
organized with 33 members, York, Pa. 
which was increased to 52 
in 1883, to be known as the Seventh Lutheran of York, which 
name was changed to St. Luke’s in 1883. 


Through the kindly interest and personal attention of David 
Emmett, a devoted member of St. Paul’s, York, a lot was pur- 
chased on East Maple Street, between Duke and Queen Streets, 
on which a substantial brick church was erected, to which a brick 
lecture room was added in 1885. Mr. Emmett was largely in- 
strumental in securing the funds for this building, and further 
became personally responsible until his death in 1894 for more 
than half of the pastor’s salary, getting what he could from St. 
Paul’s Sunday School and intimate friends. So much was his 
heart in this enterprise that he looked ahead for better things in 
the future and out of his modest accumulation of many years of 
thrift and severe economy, set apart the sum of $12,000.00 to be 
used for a new and more suitable building to accommodate the 
growing school and congregation. This sum was to remain on 
interest not less than five years, which with the principal was to 
be used for a new building within ten years. $16,800.00 was 
available, and during 1901 and 1902 the present attractive, com- 
modious and well appointed structure was erected, the congrega- 





652 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


tion and friends supplementing said amount by enough to furnish 
with windows, pulpit furniture, pews and a heating plant. 

During the year 1895 a brick parsonage was erected on a 
portion of the church lot. Towards this a thousand dollars, un- 
designated, in Mr. Emmett’s will was applied. This has been 
improved and modernized, the latest being a hot water heating 
plant. 

In 1904, a $2,000.00 organ was purchased and _ installed, 
Emanuel W. Bowman, a member, contributing one-half and An- 
drew Carnegie the remainder. 

Thus, starting with 33 members and no visible means, there 
is noW a membership of 285, with a property valued at $30,000.00. 


St. Luke’s was served by the following pastors: Rev. M. J. 
Alleman, D. D., from date of organization to October, 1883, one 
year; Rev. Samuel E. Herring, from November 6, .1883, to July 
11, 1888; Rev. George 8. Bowers, from October 1, 1888, to No- 
vember 30, 1893. During the vacancy of December, Mr. Wm. F. 
Bare, a student in the Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, acted 
as supply. Rev. Albert Bell, from January 1, 1894 — 


She has to her credit the following wie have entered the 
Lutheran ministry or are in preparation therefor: Rev. Clarence 
E. Arnold, recently Treasurer of our Synod, Albert D. Bell, son of the 
present pastor, died in France while chaplain of the 310th Field 
Gun Infantry, Rev. Clinton F. Hildebrand, Jr., Rev. John Henry 
Lehn, a member until he entered College with the ministry in 
view; in the Theological Seminary, Elwood 8. Falkenstein, and 
George Philip Schwartz (died since sketch was written); in col- 
lege. Wm. E. Zeigler. 

The Sunday School has enjoyed the privilege of having but 
three superintendents, each of whom served most faithfully and 
efficiently; Samuel G. !lgenfritz, from date of organization to 
October 1, 1888. Silas B. Gensler, an honored and faithful member 
of St. Paul’s (York), who, by his fine Christian spirit and zeal for 
his Master, won the respect and love of all who came under his 
influence, from 1888 to 1898, and Franklin Menges, Ph. D., from 
1898, still filling the same office with ability and fidelity. 


A Ladies’ Aid Society was formed in 1883 which has main- 
tained an unbroken existence to the present and has rendered 
most acceptable and much needed financial help, always working 
with a hearty will and evidencing a fine Christian spirit. 

A Women’s Missionary Society was organized in 1895, which 
has had a worthy history and has done a good work, holding an 
honorable place among the Societies of the Synod. 


A Mission Band has been maintained from the early years of 
its existence, which has been a blessed source of missionary in- 
terest in the congregation and which was largely influential in 
being the occasion of forming a Young Ladies’ Missionary Society 


YorK County CONFERENCE 653 


in later years, which is doing a good work for the congregation 
and the Master. 

The present Luther League, the continuation of the C. FE. 
Society which was organized in 1894, has done a good work and 
aided in training many young people into Christian character and 
service. 

The excellent bell that has done faithful service all these 
years, was originally in the belfry of St. Paul’s former church. 
About ten years ago it developed a flaw, rendering it useless for 
a period. but was sent to a Baltimore bell foundry and recast by 
the addition of some new material. An effort was made to main- 
tain the former pleasing tone, but, at its first ringing, all felt that 
the familiar and cherished tone was gone and a new one had taken 
its place. The new bell, all unconscious of this shock of tempor- 
ary disappointment, has won its way into the hearts of the present 
hearers and is doing most acceptable service. 





REV. PETER LIVINGSTON 


Pastor OF St. Marx’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, Pa. 


Rev. Peter Livingston was 
born September 12th, 1854, near 
New Oxford, Adams County, 
Pa. His father was a prosperous 
farmer. He was interested in 
all advancements of the com- 
munity. Was a member of the 
First Lutheran Church of New 
Oxford, an officer and a member 
of the building committee of the 
church. His motber was Leah 
Menges of Menges Mills, York 
County, Pa. She was a good 
Christian woman. 

Rev. Peter Livingston spent 
his boyhood days and young 
manhood at home on the farm. 
Attended school in the commu- 
nity, and later at Susquehanna 
University, Selinsgrove, Pa. He then took the full college 
course at Gettysburg, and graduated from Gettysburg College 
with the class of 1883, and from the Gettysburg Theological Sem- 
inary on the 22nd day of June, 1886. 

He was licensed and ordained by the West Pennsylvania 
Synod, and at once became pastor of the Lebanon Charge near 





654. History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


York City. The charge was composed of three churches. He 
resided at Felton, York County. During his ministry of about 
four years and six months a church was erected in Felton and a 
congregation organized. A parsonage was also built at Felton. 
The Lutheran congregation of the charge at Conrad’s Cross Roads 
bought out all the rights and privileges of the Reformed congre- 
gation and erected a new house of worship. ‘There was a strong 
demand on the part of many to erect a new union church, but when 
the pastor said he would not ad in any union church, they pro- 
ceeded to erect a Lutheran church. This was a new impetus for 
the Lutheran church work in the community. 

On July 27th, 1890, he took charge of St. Mark’s congrega- 
tion in York, Pa. ‘This congregation worshipped in a small chapel 
on Market Street, which soon became too small for the growing 
work. This gave place to a large and modern church building on 
a lot on the same street, which is now the Lincoln Highway. 

He was president of the York County District Endeavor 
Convention when it was in its high enthusiasm. He had much 
to do in helping to form the Luther League; when organized he 
was president of it for six different years. He was on the program 
and made addresses at State and National Conventions of the 
Luther League. He was also president of the York County 
Conference. 

He was married in 1886 to Miss Sadie L. Yount, of Littles- 
town, Adams County, Pa., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William 
Yount, who has been to him a very successful helpmate in the 
Lord’s work. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 655 


ST. MARK’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Rev. Peter LivincsTon, Pastor 


St. Mark’s Evangelical 
Lutheran Congregation was 
organized on October 31, 
1881. The meeting for or- 
ganization was in accord- 
ance with a recommenda- 
tion of the West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod. Rev. M. J. 
Alleman was elected pastor 
at the time of the organi- 
zation. He resigned April 
27, 1890. 

Rey. Peter Livingston, 
A. M., took charge of St. 
Mark’s on July 27, 1890, 
and is the present incum- 
bent. 

The original and present 
name is St. Mark’s. It 
was always a purely Luth- 
eran congregation. It oc- 
cupied a small chapel on 
East Market Street, which 
had been built for the union 
Sabbath School, commonly 
called the Freystown Sun- 
day School. This union 
Sabbath School can be 
traced back to 1819. It was St. Marg’s LuTHERAN CHURCH 
conducted in German. A Vee Diet 
German book gives this date, 
and is In our possession. 

On September 27, 1885, by a majority vote the school was 
given over to the fostering care of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. 

On June 5, 1892, the corner stone was laid for the present 
large and commodious church building on East Market Street. 
This church was finished and dedicated April 28, 1893. This is 
about one block west of the original Sunday School Building. 

St. Mark’s Church has always been independent of any other 
church or charge. The pastor never received any aid from the 
Home Mission Board. The Church Extension Board aided only 
in paying four hundred dollars on the interest of an interest-bear- 
ing debt. 

The following persons hailed from the congregation: Rev. A. 





6056 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


C. Forscht, Rev. Joseph E. Stermer, Rev. Paul Yount Livingston 
(son of the pastor), and Mrs. J. W. Gentzler, whose husband is a 
Lutheran pastor at Trenton, N. J. 

On February 23, 1891, a young people’s Luther Alliance was 
organized. In August, 1894, it was changed by vote to Christian 
Endeavor. The Junior Endeavor Society was organized Novem- 
ber 4, 1894. Both societies were changed to Luther Leagues on 
January 1, 1918, by vote 
of the societies. A society 
called the Band of Willing 
Workers organized in June, 
1890, preceded these or- 
ganizations. The Ladies’ 
Aid Society was organized 
in the early history of the 
COn eT é 9a, Lito eee ae 
Woman’s Home and _ For- 
eign Missionary Society was 
formed by the York City 
Union on March 28, 1895. 
St. Mark’s Brotherhood 
was organized on November 
16, 1909. 

While in charge as pas- 
tor of St. Mark’s congrega- 
tion, Rev. Peter Livingston 
proposed to the Conference 
of York County the forma- 
tion of a Conference Mis- 
sionary Committee, of 
which he was chairman for 
eight years, during three 
years, recelving an annual 
salary of three hundred 
dollars, in addition to that of the Charge. In the eight years 
twelve new Sabbath Schools and Lutheran congregations were 
organized. and the same number of churches built. During these 
elght vears a number of students were employed during their sum- 
mer vacations. Rev. C. W. Baker also served as traveling secretary 
in this work from October Ist, 1895, to December Ist, 1897. 

Rev. Peter Livingston continued the work after Rev. C. W 
Baker resigned; but finding the work too laborious in connection 
with his work of St. Mark’s, he resigned from the Conference 
work. The committee continued for several years afterwards 
with Rev. G. W. Enders, -D. D., chairman, then Rev. A. R. Steck, 
D. D., then Rev. F. G. Gotwald, D. D., after whose service this 
work merged into that of a committee of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod. 





St. MArK’'s LUTHERAN PARSONAGE 
YORK EVAG 


YorK CouNtTy CONFERENCE 657 
REV. WILLIAM EDWARD BROWN, D. D. 
PASTOR OF ST. MaTTHEW’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YorRK, PA. 


Rev. Wiliam Edward Brown, 
the subject of this sketch was 
born at Arcadia, Maryland, on 
June 25, 1879. He was the son 
of Wiliam J. Brown and Jane 
RR, Brown ~(@ee Gill). - Rev: 
Albert Bell of the Reisterstown 
Charge baptized him and he was 
confirmed by Rev. George A. 
Beckley in 1893 in St. Paul’s 
Church, Arcadia, Maryland. He 
attended the Reisterstown High 
School and also EHichelberg 
Academy at Glenville, Pennsylva- 
nia. He entered Pennsylvania 
College in the fall of 1895 and 
graduated with the class of 1899. 
In the fall of that year he entered 
the Theological Seminary at Get- 
tvsburg and completed his Junior year at that institution. His 
Middle and Senior years he spent in Hamma Divinity School of 
Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, graduating with the class 
of 1902. He was ordained by the Allegheny Synod on September 
28, 1902. 

On October 14, 1902, he was married to Beulah E. Miller, of 
Mount Carmel, Maryland, to which union four children were 
born. 


During the summer of 1901 Rev. Brown served as supply 
pastor for the Meyersdale charge of the Allegheny Synod and 
later as regular pastor from May, 1902. 


In February, 1904, he became pastor of the Crafton Church, 
Pittsburgh, Pa., and remained in that service until May, 1907. 
He effected here a permanent organization in a mission station, 
and built its first chapel. 


He was pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Middletown, Md., 
from May 1, 1907, to October 1, 1910; on which date he entered 
upon the duties of the pastorate of the Church of the Reformation, 
Baltimore, Md. During his service here a new church, costing, 
$70,000, was erected. He remained until January 1, 1917, and 
then accepted a call to the College Church, Springfield, Ohio. 
This pastorate continued from January 1, 1917, to October 1, 1921. 


He is the present pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church 
of York, having begun his service here on October 1, 1921. 





658 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In June, 1920, the degree of D. D. was conferred upon him 
by Wittenberg College. 

For two years, 1911-1913, he edited the Young People’s 
Notes in the Lutheran Church Work and Observer. 

He was a delegate to the General Synod at Akron, Ohio, 
in 1915; also a delegate to the second convention of the United 
Lutheran Church in Washington, D. C., in 1920. 


ST. MATTHEW’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Rev. WituiaAm E. Brown, D. D., Pastor 





St. MattHew’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


St. Matthew’s was organized April 19th, 1889, as the result 
of a growing need for another Lutheran Church in the west end of 
York. A Sunday School had already been in operation since 
August, 1886. On March 7th, 1887, the following action was 
taken at a joint meeting of ministers and laymen interested in 
the project :-— 

“Resolved, that it is the judgment of the Ministers and Lay- 
men here assembled, that it is of the highest importance to the 
progress of Lutheranism that a Church be organized in the west- 
ern part of the City.” 

On September 12th, 1887, ground was broken for a Church 
building. The dedication of this building occurred after many 
delays, December 17th, 1888. With a habitation and a home the 
Sunday School was now ready to develop into a regularly organ- 
ized congregation and engage the services of a Pastor. 

The first Pastor called was the Rev. M. J. Alleman, D. D., 


YorK CouNntTYy CONFERENCE 659 





Rev. Ropert D. Crare, D.D., 1903—1911 Rev. W. M. B. GLANDING, 1898—1902 
Rev. M. J. ALLEMAN, D.D., 1888—1897 
Rev. M. R. HAmsuHer, 1914—1921 Rev. J. Epw. Harms, D.D., 1911—1914 


660 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


who served the congregation until the time of his death, December 
Oth, 1897. 

The growth of the new organization was slow. There were 
no marvellous accessions. At the time of Dr. Alleman’s death 
the congregation numbered 78 members and the Sunday School 
120. The historian has summed up the work of this period as 
follows: 

“With the passing away of this noble pastor, the first and 

perhaps the most important chapter of the history of St. Matthew’s 
Evangelical Lutheran Church was brought to a close. He had 
safely and lovingly led the Congregation through its most trying 
period.” 
St. Matthew’s second Pastor was the Rev. W. M. B. Glanding. 
The growth of the Congregation was now very rapid. One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-two (122) persons were added during the first 
year of this pastorate. The original chapel was enlarged to meet 
the growing needs of the Congregation and Sunday School. In- 
ternal development kept pace with external growth. Rev. Gland- 
ing was a fine organizer, as well as pastor and preacher. At the 
close of Rev. Glanding’s pastorate in 1902, a congregation of 293 
members and a Sunday School of 532 were thoroughly organized 
and ready for the next step forward in its development. 

The third pastor was the Rev. Robert D. Clare, elected when 
yet a student in the Seminary. The choice of Rev. Clare was a 
most happy one, as time soon revealed. He brought to the work 
the vigor of youth and an unbounded enthusiasm. Within a year 
further additions were made necessary to the original chapel, 
and soon these were outgrown. Early in 1904 it was apparent 
that a new location must be secured and larger buildings provided. 
The decisive point, the crisis in St. Matthew’s history, had been 
reached, and with real vision and foresight the pastor and lay 
leadership of the congregation met it. 

A commanding location was secured on West Market Street 
with a frontage of 200 feet and a depth of 230 feet. Upon this 
location in the summer of 1906, a Sunday School chapel, seating 
1400 persons, was erected. The day of small things was over. A 
few of the faint hearted thought the building too large, but in a 
short time it was filled and remains so to this day. 

Rev. Clare continued as pastor until March, 1911, leaving 
behind him a permanent church location, a commodious chapel, 
a loyal and enthusiastic Congregation. The Congregation at. this 
time numbered about 750 and the Sunday School about 1300. 

Rev. J. E. Harms, the fourth pastor, entered upon his labors 
June, 1911. The period of building and physical enlargement 
was now over; nevertheless, during the pastorate of Rev. Harms 
the congregation continued its growth. Over 100 members were 
added during the first year and about 275 during a pastorate of 
less than 3 years. Rev. Harm’s ministry in St. Matthew’s was the 





YorK CouNTY CONFERENCE 661 


briefest of all her pastors. His exceptional pulpit ability at- 
tracted the attention of the First Church in Dayton, Ohio, who 
extended him such an urgent call that he felt. constrained to ac- 
cept it. Rev. Harms is still remembered in St. Matthew’s as a 
man of commanding presence and an eloquent preacher of the 
Word. His resignation became effective May, 1914. 

_ The fifth pastor was the Rev. M. R. Hamsher, who began 
his pastorate September, 1914. Rev. Hamsher soon won the 
hearts of the people of St. Matthew’s by his friendly manner and 
his faithful ministration of the 
Word in the parish as well as 
the pulpit. The congregation 
kept growing at the rate of about 
100 persons per year. There 
seemed to be no limit to the 
possibilities of St. Matthew’s, 
in spite of the fact that other 
congregations Were growing up 
on all sides as the city enlarged 
her borders. During this pas- 
torate also all outstanding in- 
debtedness on the church prop- 
erty was wiped out. Plans for 
the enlargement of the Sunday 
School chapel, especially in the 
interest of the Primary and Be- 
ginners departments, were also 
undertaken. Rev. Hamsher re- 
signed August 31st, 1921, completing a period of seven years of 
faithful work and leaving behind him a loyal, united and enthu- 
silastic congregation. 

The present pastor, Rev. William E. Brown, assumed charge 
October Ist, 1921. The growth of the first year, 130 accessions, 
indicates that the congregation is not yet at a standstill in numer- 
ical growth. Plans are now under way for the erection of a church 
auditorium and an annex to the Sunday School chapel. When 
these are realized St. Matthew’s will indeed and in truth be 
thoroughly furnished unto every good work. 

The present confirmed membership of the congregation is 
1280, and the Sunday School, 1425. The annual contributions 
of the congregation reach a grand total of about $20,000, of which 
nearly $7,000 goes for Benevolence. 





Mr. P. A. ELSESSER 
»S. ». puperintendent, 1907 — 


662 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. CLINTON ELMER WALTER, D. D. 


Pastor OF St. Paui’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, Pa. 


Chnton E. Walter, was born 
in Easton, Northampton Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, on the 19th 
of October, 1867. © His: father, 
Van Selan Walter, was of Ger- 
man extraction; his mother, Sally 
Ann Laros, came from French 
Huguenot stock. 

His church training and _ re- 
ligious experiences Were in con- 
nection with St. Peter’s Lutheran 
Church, of “College Hill,’’ Eas- 
ton, Pa., under the pastoral 
care of Rev.) W.7 oH. "Dunbar 
Rev. H. B. Wile and Rev. 
Charles R. Trowbridge. In his 
twelfth year he was confirmed 
by Rev. Wile. 

He received his education in 
the Easton Public Schools; High School, class of 1886; Lafayette 
College, class of 1890; Gettysburg Theological Seminary, class of 
1892. The degree of D. D., was conferred upon him in June, 
1901, by the College of North Carolina. He was licensed by the 
Synod of East Pennsylvania in 1891, and ordained by the same 
Synod in St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Pa., 
September 25, 1892. 

He began his ministry, as the Assistant Pastor of Rev. 
Dr. Luther E. Albert, in Trinity Lutheran Church, Germantown, 
Pa., in July 1892, in which capacity he served until September 1, 
1895, when he resigned to accept the pastorate of Christ Lutheran 
Church, Hughesville, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, where he 
entered upon his duties on October 1, 1895. He resigned in July, 
1898, and accepted the call to St. Paul’s of York, Pa., where he 
began his ministry on September Ist, 1898. 


He has served as a member of the Deaconess Board, the Board 
of Church Extension, the Board cf Home Missions and Church 
Extension, the Board of the Christian Home, York, Pennsylvania, 
and as a director of the York County Historical Society. He 
is chaplain of the York Rail Ways Company, a member of the 
Library Board of the York Public Library, a member of the York 
County Academy Board, a member of the Examining Com- 
mittee of the West Pennsylvania Synod, and he is Secretary of 
the Special Commission on Theological Education in the United 





YorRK CouNtTy CONFERENCE 663 


Lutheran Church in America, having succeeded the late Rev. 
Jacob (A. Clutz,D..D. 

On April 16th, 1896, he married Miss Elizabeth Butler Coxe, 
of Germantown, Pennsylvania, from which union three children 
were born, Clinton, Jr., Coe Lawrence, and Martha Tyson. 


pil PAULS LUTHERAN @HURCH. YORK, PA. 


Rev. Crinton E. Water, D. D., Pastor 





ST. PAuL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


The opening words of the first article of St. Paul’s original 
constitution are these: ‘This society shall be called and known by 


664. History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


the name of the ‘English Evangelical Lutheran Church.’”’ The title 
which distinguished it then, as the only English Lutheran Church 
in York, is no longer the exclusive claim of St. Paul’s. In these 
days we do not question whether or not our Anglicized Lutheran 
populations should be taught in the English language. In fact, 
English worship, in almost all of our city work, is the one necessary 
condition for the retention of the young of our churches. 

It was the Rev. Jonathan Oswald, who served for six years 
as the assistant pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, the Rev. Dr. 
John George Schmucker, pastor, who, with prophetic insight, catch- 
ing a double portion of Dr. Schmucker’s sympathy for the English 
language, recognized the close relationship which worship in the 
English tongue would sustain to the future growth of the church 
Iney ork 

Dr. Oswald was himself a splendid student of the German, 
and it was not his prejudice against that language, but his far- 
seeing appreciation of the growing demand and necessity for 
English preaching, which led him to become one of the pioneers 
in “the Lutheran Pennsylvania linguistic contest.’? About sev- 
enty years ago, some very serious thoughts were filling the minds 
of the York Lutherans. English or no English was the question 
with many of our people. 

When, toward the close of the year 1835, Dr. Schmucker 
resigned the pastoral care of Christ Church, the English element 
naturally looked toward the assistant pastor, the Rev. Mr. Os- 
wald, as the rightful successor of Dr. Schmucker. Disappointed 
in their desire, through the election of Rev. A. H. Lochman as 
pastor of the church, and feeling the need of a Lutheran congrega- 
tion, wholly English in character, the move in this direction began 
in earnest, centering about the Rev. Jonathan Oswald, the pros- 
pective pastor of the prospective congregation. The first meeting 
for organization was held February 18, 18386. Dr. Luke Rouse was 
elected president; Frederick Baugher and Adam Eichelberger, 
secretaries. A board of trustees was appointed, composed of 
Daniel Kraber, Charles Eppley, Luke Rouse, Michael Sowers, 
John Immel, Adam Ejichelberger, Christian Hildebrand, Christian 
G. Pfahler, George 8. Ziegler, Conrad Shultz, Benjamin Johnston 
and Abraham Forry. At the meeting on February 26, 1836, held 
for the purpose of further organization and for the signing of the 
constitution, sixty-eight “male members” affixed their signatures, 
and Charles Weiser, Luke Rouse, George P. Ziegler, Charles A. 
Morris and Adam Wert were elected as trustees, Lewis Miller 
being appointed treasurer. 

On Sunday, February 28, in the lecture room of Zion Re- 
formed Church, the infant congregation held its first worship, 
after which the first church council was elected, consisting of 
elders: Frederick Baugher, Jacob Weiser, Abraham Forry, Adam 
Wert, Dr. Luke Rouse and G. P. Ziegler; deacons: Robert W. Long 


YorK County CONFERENCE 665 


and John Immel Plans for a building were immediately consid- 
ered, a lot of ground having been bought, located at the southeast 
corner of Beaver and King Streets. The building committee 
consisted of Charles Weiser, chairman; Adam Wert, Luke Rouse. 
George P. Ziegler, C. A. Morris, and Lewis Rosenmiller, treasurer. 

The corner stone of the first church building was laid, May 
29, 1836, the Revs. H. L. Baugher and J. G. Morris, together 
with the pastor and other clergymen of the town, officiating. On 
the 19th of the following December, the first worship was held in 
the lecture room of the new building, the Rev. H. L. Baugher 
officiating. But “the great day of the feast” in the early history 
of the church, was June 11, 1837, when the finished building 
was dedicated. The ministers officiating, besides the pastor, 
were Revs. Drs. Benjamin Kurtz, J. G. Morris, H. L. Baugher and 
C. P. Krauth. The Sunday School was organized November, 
1836, with Rev. J. Oswald, president; Daniel Kraber, superin- 
tendent; Charles A. Morris, treasurer, and Mrs. Charles A. Morris, 
“female superintendent.” 

It was in this way and from such beginnings that St. Paul’s 
was launched into existence. The Rev. J. Oswald resigned No- 
vember 27, 1861, after more than twenty years of noble forti- 
tude, in spite of opposition, leaving a name honored throughout 
the church, and a work, the wisdom of which none can question— 
the magnitude of which none can estimate. 

Rey. Dr. William M. Baum was called to the pastorate of 
St. Paul’s, January 1, 1862, and after seven years of labor, began 
the work of rebuilding, rearing the present church edifice which 
stands today, not only as a monument to his industry and tact, 
but his foresight as well. The new church building was dedicated 
March 12, 1871, costing $62,000. If has seating capacity of about 
700. Dr. Baum lives today not only in the memory of his former 
helpers and supporters, but the very stones speak of his ability 
and acceptableness, as a pastor and preacher. 

Dr. Baum was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Luther A. Gotwald, 
April 1, 1874. For eleven years, he preached most faithfully, 
presenting the truth in a clear and effective way, winning men by 
the lovableness of his nature, and gaining for himself the enviable 
name ‘the model pastor.” He was succeeded December 15, 
1885, by the Rev. Dr. William 8. Freas, who served the congrega- 
tion with great fidelity until August 1, 1898, when he resigned. 
Under his guidance, characterized as it was by prudence, tact 
and unwearied diligence, the church continued to prosper and grow. 

Dr. Freas was succeeded September 1, 1898, by Rev. Clinton 
E. Walter, D. D., the present pastor of the Congregation. 

During the ministry of the present pastor, many changes, 
affecting the property and facilities of St. Paul’s, have taken 
place. The Sunday School building, extensively remodeled and 
enlarged, was rededicated, November 3, 1901. A new Pastor’s 


666 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


study was built in the fall of 1904. The property adjoming the 
old parsonage was thoroughly renovated and enlarged and oc- 
cupied as the Parsonage, January, 1910. The old parsonage re- 
modeled and adapted to the requirements of our numerous so- 
cieties, began to be used as the Parish House, February, 1910. 
The ‘“‘Free Pew System” was introduced, July 1, 1911. During 
the summer and fall of 1916, the church auditorium, and the 
main building were completely renovated at a cost of $18,000. 
Many beautiful memorials were placed. 





AUDITORIUM OF St. PAUL’s LUTHERAN CHURCH 


In the summer of 1922 a Scout Hall was built at a cost of 
$12,000. Extensive alterations in the Primary Sunday School 
Room, and a complete remodeling of the Parish house were ac- 
complished during the spring of 1923. 

The Congregation is today in possession of a series of build- 
ings, admirably adapted to the needs of modern, city church ac- 
tivities. Its equipment is of a high order, and represents a great 
outlay of money, a monument to the interest and liberality of a 
devoted people. 

The congregation has from the beginning been distinguished 
by the high character and activity of some of its laymen. 


YorK CouNTY CONFERENCE 667 


Rev. H. H. Weber, D. D., former Secretary of the Board of 
Church Extension, is a regular worshiper within St. Paul’s while 
Jere Carl, M. B. Spahr, and George E. Neff have had a relation- 
ship with this church board. Charles $8. Weiser was for many 
years treasurer of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg; Jere 
Carl was treasurer of the General Synod and of the Board of Church 
Extension. George E. Neff is a Trustee and Treasurer of ‘Tressler 
Orphan’s Home and a member of the Executive Board of the 
United Lutheran Churcb in America. 


REV. EDWARD C. RUBY 


Pastor oF St. Perer’s LuTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Edward C. Ruby, a son of the 
late Barnabas B. and Malinda 
A. Ruby, was born near the vil- 
lage of East Prospect, York Co., 
Pa., October 14, 1868. When 
he was about 14 years of age he 
became a member of the Cana- 
dochly Lutheran congregation of 
the Hellam Charge, having been 
instructed in the catechism and 
confirmed by the Rev. L. K. 
Sechrist. 

He spent his early years upon 
his father’s farm, attended the 
country public school and the 
York County Academy, and at 
the age of 19 began as a teacher 
in the public schools. During 
the vears 1889 to 1892 he attended 
spring terms at the State Normal School, Millersville, Pa., and at 
what was then known as the Northern Indiana Normal School, 
Valparaiso, Ind. In 1896 he received a State Permanent Certifi- 
cate from the Department of Public Instruction of Pennsylvania. 

After teaching for eleven years he decided to obey the call 
to the ministry. In the fall of 1898 he was admitted as a Fresh- 
man in Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., and graduated 
therefrom in 1902 with first honor, and delivered the valedictory 
address at the commencement. During his collegiate course he 
devoted part of his time to teaching in the Academy and tutoring 
a number of college men privately. He was awarded the Fresh- 
man. prize for general scholarship, the Baum mathematical prize, 
and one of the Gies essay prizes. 





668 History OF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


In the fall of 1902 he entered the Theological Seminary at 
Gettysburg, and graduated therefrom in 1905, with the degree of 
Bachelor of Divinity, and was one of the speakers at the commence- 
ment exercises. He was licensed by the West Pennsylvania Synod 
in 1904, and ordained by the same Synod during its sessions in 
the First Lutheran Church, Chambersburg, Pa., in 1905. 

After serving as an assistant to Dr. J. C. Koller at St. Mat- 
thew’s, Hanover, Pa., for seven months, he has since then served 
as pastor at St. Paul’s, Stone Church, Northampton Co., Pa., 
from November, 1906, to January 1, 1908;at St. Matthew’s, Allen-, 
town, Pa., from January 1, 1908, to April 1, 1913; at St. Paul’s, 
Camden, New Jersey, from April 1, 1913, to August 1, 1916; and 
at St. Peter’s, York, Pa., since August 1, 1916. 

While a member of the East Pennsylvania Synod he served 
on the Examining Committee as examiner in Hebrew and Greek. 
He is now a member of that committee in the West Pennsylvania 
Synod. In the early part of his ministry he translated from the 
German an article written by Prof. Carl Stange, D. D., entitled, 
“The Significance of the Law in Salvation.” This translation 
was published in the Lutheran Quarterly in 1906. 

During the time of the World War, and for several years 
thereafter, be had been doing extra work as a teacher in the local 
high school, the York County Academy, and the York Collegiate 
Institute, teaching Algebra, Geometry, Latin, Greek, Ancient 
History and Bible. He has also been a member of the faculty 
of the Community Training School of Religious Education in the 
city of York since its founding, January 29, 1923, teaching Old 
Testament History and Literature. In 1922 he served as president 
of the York County Conference and as a delegate to the General 
Convention of the United Lutheran Church at Buffalo, N. Y. 

In 1893 Rev. Ruby was married to Miss Carrie A. Bailey of 
New Freedom, Pa., to which union there were born two children, 
one of whom died in infancy, the other, Naomi B., who is a grad- 
uate of the North York High School and the State Normal School 
at Millersville, Pa., is a teacher in the primary grades of the public 
schools of York, Pa. 


oT PHTER Ss LUTHERAN: GHURCH SY ORL Ns 
Rev. Epwarp C. Ruspy, Pastor 


St. Peter’s congregation was organized February 28, 1891. 
For some time previous to the organization the Rev. E. Lenhart 
and the Rev. P. Anstadt, D. D., conducted a Sunday School and 
preaching services in the public school building. The Rev. M. 
J. Alleman became the first pastor, serving the congregation a 


YORK CouNTY CONFERENCE 669 


little over a year. Hewas succeeded by the Rev. T. Bahn Thomas, 
who took up the work as pastor on August 7, 1892, and served 
until September 27, 1903. During his pastorate a lot was secured 
and a church building was erected and dedicated, at a cost of 
about $4700. The communicant membership was increased from 
15 to 171. With the aid of the Boards of Home Missions and 
Church Extension this mission became firmly established. The 
congregation has since then been served by the Rev. J. B. Baker, 
from May 15, 1904, to July 20, 1906; the Rev. D. C. Burnite, 
from September 28, 1906, to July 7, 1912; the Rev. Chas. L. Ritter, 
from September 19, 1912, to March 26, 1916; and the Rev. Ed- 
ward C. Ruby, since August 1, 1916. 





ST. PETERS LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


During the year 1913 a very commodious parsonage was built 
on a lot donated by the Lichtenberger family, at a cost of about 
$5,000. On April 1, 1922, a new site for the church was secured 
at a cost of $10,000, upon which more adequate buildings are to 
be erected in the near future. 

The confirmed membership at the time of this writing (1928) 
was 420, and the Sunday School had an enrollment of nearly 500. 
Many of these members are also identified with the various 
auxiliary organizations, such as the Women’s Missionary Society, 
the Ladies’ Aid Society, the Sr. and Jr. Luther Leagues, and the 
Light Brigade. 

St. Peter’s has the honor of having four sons in the Lutheran 
ministry :—The Rev. Stewart W. Herman, D. D., pastor of Zion, 
Harrisburg, Pa.; the Rev. Chas. N. Shindler, pastor of St. John’s, 
Steelton, Pa.; the Rev. Earl C. Herman, pastor of Zion, Canton, 
Ohio; and the Rev. Raymond C. Shindler, pastor of Messiah, 
Baltimore, Md. 


670 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


REV. CLARENCE E. ARNOLD 


Pastor or Trinity LUTHERAN CHURCH UNTIL JULY 15, 1925 


The Rev. Clarence E. Arnold 
is a ministerial son of St. Luke’s 
Church of York, Pennsylvania, 
in which he was confirmed under 
the pastoral guidance of the Rev. 
Albert Bell. He was born in 
York on April 13, 1886, and re- 
ceived his early education in the 
public schools of York, gradua- 
ting from the York High School 
in 1903. After a year of special- 
ization in Greek at the York 
County Academy he entered the 
sophomore class of Gettysburg 
College in 1904. After gradua- 
tion from college in 1907 he 
entered Gettysburg Theological 
Seminary and was graduated in 
1910. 

The Rev. Mr. Arnold was licensed by the West Pennsylvania 
Synod on October 13, 1909, and was ordained by the Maryland 
‘Synod October 23, 1910. Upon his graduation from Seminary 
he became, August 1, 1910, the pastor of Concordia Lutheran 
Church of Baltimore, Md. This pastoral relationship continued 
until April 8, 1912, when Rev. Arnold took up the pastorate of 
the West Berwick Charge, Berwick, Pa. May 15, 1917, he became 
the pastor of Trinity Church of York, Pa. 

On July 15, 1910, Rev. Arnold was united in marriage to Miss 
Annie I. Bringman of York, Pa. Of this union two children, 
Luther and David, have been born. 

In addition to his pastoral duties the Rev. Mr. Arnold served 
as statistical secretary of the Susquehanna Synod for four years, 
1914-1917, and of the West Pennsylvania Synod for three years, 
1918-1920. Since October, 1920, he was serving as the treas- 
urer of the West Pennsylvania Synod, until on June 30, 1925, 
he concluded his pastorate of the Trinity Lutheran Church in 
order to accept a call to St. John’s Lutheran Church of Belle- 
fonte, Pa. 





YorK County CONFERENCE 671 
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 


Rev. CLharENcCE E. ARNOLD, Pastor unTIL JuLy 15, 1925 





TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Trinity Lutheran Church of York was the outgrowth of a 
Sunday School organized on Sunday afternoon, June 2, 1912, in 
the abandoned Episcopal Chapel of the Incarnation, Linden 
Avenue and West Street, under the auspices of the Missionary 
Committee of the York County Conference. The school pros- 
pered and interest grew so that, before the end of the first year, 
the Sunday School decided unanimously to continue the work 
and renew the lease on the chapel for another year. 

There followed rapidly a sentiment for the organization of a 
congregation, Which was effected on Sunday, October 5, 1918, 
with thirty-seven charter members. At a congregational meeting 
the Sunday evening following the present name of the church was 
chosen, a constitution was adopted, and steps were taken for ad- 
mission into the membership of the Synod of West Pennsylvania. 
The congregation was received into the West Pennsylvania Synod 
on October 15, 1918, and was incorporated by the York County 
Court on December 15, 1913. 

The growth of the Sunday School necessitated more room 
than was available so long as the church property was leased, 
and on November 8, 1913, Rev. and Mrs. F. G. Gotwald purchased 
in trust for the congregation the property consisting of a beautiful, 
churchly building, fully equipped with pews, pipe organ, pulpit, 


672 History OF Wrest PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


altar and font, and situated on a lot seventy-five feet in frontage 
and one hundred eighty feet in depth, framed in by stately elms 
and beautiful pines and birches. The purchase price was $5000. 
Plans were made to remodel and enlarge the church building so 
as to give double the seating capacity for church and Sunday School 
work. The corner stone of the building as a Lutheran Church was 
laid on November 19, 1913. Dedication services were held on 
Sunday, February 8, 1914. The improvements were made at a 
cost of $4000. 

Again the building became too small, and on Reformation 
Day, 1917, ground was broken for another addition to the church 
building for Sunday School purposes. Improvements were also 
made in the church auditorium. The work was done at a cost 
of over $3000. Re-dedication services were held March 10, 1918. 

On April 15, 1921, title was taken to an adjoining piece of 
eround, fronting fifty feet on Linden Avenue and having a depth 
of one hundred-eighty feet. This was done to protect the congre- 
gation in the needs of its future growth. 

From the beginning as a Sunday School Rev. F. G. Gotwald, 
D. D., had been placed in a supervisory relationship to the work. 
From January 1, 1914, Dr. Gotwald became by congregational 
action the acting pastor and so continued until May 15, 1917. 
On March 25, 1917, the Rev. Clarence EK. Arnold, was elected 
as the first regular pastor, and took up the work May 15, 1917. 

After ten years the congregation has increased from the 
original thirty-seven to a membership of three hundred. The 
Sunday School, which was originally composed largely of members 
of other schools, has gone beyond an enrollment of three hundred 
fifty, its own membership. Trinity holds its valuable property 
free of debt. The past has been marked by growth and building 
enlargement and again the problem of more room and _ better 
equipment lies before it by reason of the growth of the work, which 
spells promise for the future. 

Rev. Mr. Arnold ended his pastorate here on July 15, 1925, 
inorder to accept the pastorate of St. John’s Lutheran Church of 
Bellefonte, Pa. 

Just as this volume is going to press, the Rev. Charles W. 
Diehl, of Trenton, N. J., has notified the President of Synod that 
he has accepted a call to Trinity Lutheran Church, and will begin 
his work on Dee. 6, 1925. He is a native of West Pennsylvania, 
his home being near Seven Valleys, in York Co. During the 
past ten years he has been pastor of Grace Church, Trenton, N. 
J., Where his work has won for hima place of high esteem with 
his community, congregation and ministerial associates. His fine 
training, earnest devotion and recognized ability should assure a 
continuance of the steady development that has marked Trinity 
Church in its brief history. 


YoRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 673 


UNION LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Rev. W. H. Fetpmann, D. D., Pastor 


Rev. W. H. FeELtpmMann, D. D. 


A church council was 
elected as follows: Elders, 
John Weyer, Joseph Smyser, 
Adam Smyser, Christian 
Bender, Jacob Herman and 
Jacob Kessler; Deacons, 
John Kraber and George 
Leitner. A Constitution had 
been adopted and_ signed 
by 45 males and 43 fe- 
males. A Charter was se- 
cured March 22, 1859. 
March 29, a lot was bought 
from the Elizabeth EKichel- 
berger heirs for $1000. M. 
W. Weiser was engaged to 
erect the church building 
at a cost of $5,636, April 
22, and the corner stone 
was laid June 2, 1859. 
The first service was held 
December 11, 1859, Rev. 
J.B. Rath officiating. Rev. 
J. H. Menges was elected 





This was the fourth Lutheran 
congregation organized in York. 
It had its origin neither in a 
storm nor in a swarm, but was 
the result of a long-felt want on 
the part of a number of Luther- 
ans living in the western part of 
the town and vicinity. This 
uniting of Lutherans coming 
from a number of other Lutheran 
churches may have suggested 
“Union” as the name of the con- 
gregation, and its spirit of unity 
gives it a right to the name it 
bears. 

It was organized February 12, 
1859, at a meeting characterized 
by great unanimity of sentiment 
and purpose.« Rev. C. J. Dein- 
inger presided. 





UNION LUTHERAN CHURCH 
YORK, PA, 


674 History or West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


pastor February 11, 1860, at a salary of $400 a year and house 
rent free. February 19, 1860, the church was dedicated, the 
ministers present were Drs. B. Kurtz, J. McCron, A. H. Loch- 
man and J. Oswald and Revs. A. W. Lilly and J. H. Menges. 
The cost of the building and furnishing was $8007.65, all provided 
for before or at the dedication except $336.36. The Sunday 
School was organized April 15, 1860. 

The congregation has had the following pastors: Rev. J. 
H. Menges from April 4, 1860, toAugust 1, 1874; Rev. M. J. 
Alleman, from November 1, 1874, to November 1, 1876; Rev. A. 
G. Fastnacht, from February 1, 1877, to June 14, 1903; Rev. A. R. 
Steck, from June 21, 1903, to January 1, 1914; Rev. W. H. Feld- 
mann began his pastorate June 1, 1914. 


PASTORATE OF Ray. J. H. MENGES 


Under the lively ministrations of Rev. Menges the original 
88 members began an active campaign and an increase in mem- 
bership in the church and Sunday School resulted. The record 
of this pastorate is somewhat incomplete, but the following shows 
in part what was accomplished. 
The average communicants dur- 
ing the later years were 290; 
adult and infant baptisms 300; 
confirmations 201; additions by 
letter 203; contributions for 
all purposes $23,694.70. 

In 1870 the audience room 
was greatly improved in appear- 
ance, being frescoed, a new pul- 
pit and altar furniture, stained 
glass windows and cushions for 
the pews being installed, at a 
cost of $4,062. A number of 
fruitful evangelistic meetings 
were held. Rev. Menges was a 
strong and popular preacher and 

Rev. J. H. MENGES was often called to minister in 
other churches. Being apt in 
soliciting funds he was frequently in demand at the dedication of 
churches, and as a platform speaker at missionary, temperance 
and other occasions. He was a genial man and was loved by young 
and old. He was one of the founders of the Orphans’ Home at 
Loysville, for years a trustee, a member of the Publication Board, 
director of the Theological Seminar y at Gettysburg and a member 
of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. 





YorRK County CONFERENCE 675 


PASTORATE OF Rev. M. J. Atteman, D. D. 


This was a pastorate of only 
two years. The record however 
is commendable, as 90 members 
were added and only 22 lost by 
death and dismissal. Contribu- 
tions for benevolence $612.23, 
and for local objects at least 
$2500. Dr. Alleman was a man 
of more than ordinary ability as 
a preacher and was especially 
eifted in prayer. He was a man 
of great faith and devout spirit. 
He organized a number of con- 
eregations in York and _ else- 
Where, and as evidence of his 
self-denying labors these now . 
aide. ase UOuUrishing sChUrChes 45 wipy oi sIP tT? oMAne! D. 1D. 
Among other positions he oecu- 
pied he was also President of the West Pennsylvania Synod. 





PASTORATE OF Ray. A. G. FASTNACHT 


(See picture on Page 165) 


This pastorate had the advantage of a growing community, 
the hearty co-operation of an active church council and an efficient 
body of Sunday School workers. Among the material improve- 
ments were the erection of an Infants 5. 5. room in 1880; the 
audience room re-frescoed, re-carpeted, choir gallery built and pipe 
organ installed in 1882; lecture room repaired and re-frescoed in 
1883; church building improved in 1895; total cost $3500. In 
1896 the church and Sunday School realizing the need of enlarged 
accommodation for the growing Sunday School, action was taken 
as follows: The church council authorized the formation of the 
Union Lutheran Building Society, to be composed of the church 
council and the presidents of Circles of ten families each, or mem- 
bers living in ten houses. The plan, which was proposed by Mr. 
W.S. Bond, worked out so well that by April 1, 1897, sufficient 
funds were on hand to purchase, at a cost of $5,500, a property 
adjoining the church lot as a site for the prospective Sunday School 
building. By May 1, 1899, there had been secured in cash and 
subscriptions for the erection of said building, $10,500. <A con- 
tract was made for the erection of the building, to be known as 
the Sunday School Chapel and Administration Building of the 


676 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


Union Lutheran Church, for $10,534. The corner stone was laid 
July 16, 1899, and the building dedicated June 3, 1900, free of 
debt, the cost of lot, building and furnishing being about $21,000. 
September 1, 1900, a lot adjoining 8. 8. building on the south was 
bought for $2,000, and paid for by funds on hand. For full des- 
scription of the building, see Minutes of Synod for 1900. 








SUNDAY SCHOOL CHAPEL AND ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 


A W. H. & F. M. Society, Young Ladies’ and Childrens’ 
Bands, Senior and Junior C. E. Societies, Relief Committee, 
Ladies’ Aid Society and Pastor’s Aid Committee were organized. 


The following bequests were made by members of the church: 
Jacob King, $400; Mrs. Mary A. Mitzel, $500; Samuel Symser, 
the parsonage and $2000 to Sunday School, and $500 to the pastor; 
Jacob Rupert, Mrs. Jacob King and Joseph Smyser respectively, 
six, five and ten shares of bank stock, the income to be fer the 
salary fund. Mrs. Elizabeth Weyer left about $23,000 to the 
church in 1899. Samuel Smyser also bequeathed to the Seminary 
at Gettysburg, the Orphans’ Home at Loysville and the Board of 
Home Missions each $1,000, and the original homestead of- his 
ancestors in this country, Ruegelbach, to Children’s Home in 
York, Pa. John Weyer left to the Children’s Home in York, Pa., 
almost $68,000. 


Sons in the ministry; Rev. Robert L. Meisenhelder and Rev. 
Joseph D. Krout. Rev. W. H. Bare and Rev. Clayton H. Bixler 
were members during their course of preparation. 


YorRK CouNTY CONFERENCE 677 


Statistical Record. 


ng reniba pli zecianes nee tte is re eee dN 872 
WLI betes COC aneL te aan eras, Rote. Mop tt ge ise 
UT TAD Ca veent een © MOO cP ERY ko ek) eel thee 380 
iris a ae eee Oke Me hart See Ao et Gt Pe 6006 
SSCS NAF emia ean prea re Pres RR ne ARN Fotis: ae 541 
Nem bers COrOllen tas ta ee ee S11 
UTC yeochOOlme;n els: ) eee teat ert at). 930 


FINANCIAL STATEMENT 


Contributions for Local Objects.......... $77,835 

Contributions & Bequests for Missions, Benev- 
GleNCer we OU CaALlON wae Pr ae on mei lS (48 

Motale@ontributionce ete ee eee 196,583 





SUNDAY SCHOOL CHAPEL INTERIOR 


The pastor’s salary began at $800 and no house and ended 
with $1100 a year and house. 

The German services every alternate Sunday morning, re- 
quired by the Charter, somewhat hindered the work during this 
pastorate. The Charter was changed during the closing year. 

The members gave the pastor a parting gift of almost $1400 
and have since elected him Pastor Emeritus and granted him a 
pension of $300 a year and show him many acts of kindness. 


PASTORATE ORSILHV a Ajeet oTECKes se LD: 


(See picture on Page 296) 
This pastorate proved a large factor in the progress of the 


678 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


congregation. The pastor’s strong and eloquent ministrations 
made him influential for good in the congregation and community. 
His services were much in demand in York and other places. 
The people admired him for his ability and work and loved him 
for his genial spirit. The congregation greatly regretted his de- 
parture and hold him in loving remembrance. ~ 





Union LUTHERAN CHURCH AUDITORIUM 


The following indicates in part the activities of this pastorate: 

The parsonage was materially improved, a larger furnace 
installed, side porch built and cement walks laid, lecture room 
beautified and stairway leading to pulpit built. In 1908 the Sun- 
day School rooms were frescoed and lecture room papered, at a 
cost of $875. In 1913 the audience room was re-frescoed and re- 
carpeted, improved light fixtures installed, gallery arch remodeled, 
the parsonage, chapel and church building painted outside and 
a three-manual MOller Pipe Organ secured, at a cost of $5,100. 
A Dorcas Society, Mission and Cradle Rolls, Young Ladies’ 
Guild, Brotherhood and 8. 8. Home Department were organized. 
Miss Catherine King began her course of preparation as a deacon- 
ess. The pastor’s salary was increased from $1200 to $1800. a 
year. 

STATISTICAL RECORD 


Infants: Baptized eee canes le ee eee 247 
Meém-bers:added Ses speeanensts ncn: 20 te ee ee 544 
LiOSSCSi.5 cae cee ae ae Pet Re ee 191 
Contents Meni belsre we. eee ee 1005 


YorK County CONFERENCE 679 


FINANCIAL STATEMENT 


Contributions for Local Objects........... .$52,484 
Contributions for Missions and Benev...... 19,707 
PIOTAlESONUELDUUIONS eerie) meen ee wee 2h Le) 


THE PaAstorRatTEe oF Rav. W. H. Fetpmann, D. D. 


Pastor Feldmann’s earnest and scholarly preaching is ap- 
preciated and effective, as the continued progress of the congrega- 
tion and Sunday School evidences. Regarded as one of the strong- 
est preachers in the city he is frequently in demand by other 
churches and organizations. He is thorough and methodical in 
his work. His Bible class in 8. S. numbers about 300. Consid- 
erable amounts have been spent on improvements at all the 
buildings. A Scout Hall was erected at a cost of $3000. In 1916 
the Eichelberger property, 60 feet front on W. Market Street, 
adjoining the church, was bought for $18,000 cash. 

In June, 1923, a successful effort was made to increase the 
amount of $60,000, already on hand, to $200,000 to be used in 
the erection of a new church building. $180,000 is now on hand 
and erection of new church will likely begin in the spring of 1926. 
Rev. J. St. Clair Bousum is a son of this pastorate, and one 
student is in course of preparation for the ministry. 

Pastor’s salary was increased from $1800, to $8000 a year. 


STATISTICAL RECORD 


Impantesbap tized spa) ele Gane a hare pate cui: 300 
EXCLUS EDS Dt ZC ae Ate EMERG Santee rah ely 45 
onliriiatlons he eee een ae en ea 328 
FAGUGCED Vale le lau ue te tte MESMNIRe Te xt hy tulrene 2. 174. 
Losses by death and dismissal’.......-........ 412 
Wontirmeds members sas ree ees eee ied re 1160 
Soe enrollments same mre en eek! Fe 1448 


FINANCIAL STATEMENT 


Contributions for Local Objects............$ 77,497 
For benevolence, education, missions....... 33,199 
SE Ota ECOUUCTOULION Sa meee ne ne 0 ie oe cate oe 110,696 


Total for all objects during 5 pastorates $406,209 


Contributions from Sunday School and other societies are 
included in totals for local and other objects. Each pastorate’s 
activities are reckoned from the meeting of Synod immediately 


680 History oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


preceding the commencement of each pastorate. (History brought 
down to October 1, 1923). 

(Above historical sketch prepared by Rev. A. G. Fastnacht, 
1D Ds) 


TU 3G BO EG AI Tas G Ble ay pepe 


Pastor OF ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, Pa. 


George Albert Getty was born 
in Baltimore, Maryland, March 
10th, 1872. He passed through 
the public schools of the city, 
after which he entered the Junior 
class in Pennsylvania College, 
where he received his A. B. de- 
gree fn 1892. Two years later 
he graduated from the Theologi- 
cal Seminary at Gettysburg. He 
was licensed by the Maryland 
Synod in the fall of 1893, and 
ordained by the East Ohio 
Synod Oct. 7, 1894. His first 
charge was in Cleveland, Ohio, 
where he was sent as a Home 
Missionary and inaugurated the 
work of the General Synod. He 
served as pastor of Lutheran 
churches at East Schodack, N. Y., (1896-97); Cobleskill, N. Y., 
(1898-1905); Saint John’s, Baltimore, Mad., (1910- LOLS and be- 
came the sixth pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, York, February 
Ist, 1915. 

He has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Alethea 
Wilson Bevard of Harford County, Md., who died in 1915; and 
his second wife was Miss Carrie Elizabeth Haase of Baltimore. 

In 1917 the degree of D. D., was conferred upon him by Penn- 
sylvania College. He has served as a member of the Deaconess 
Board, the Board of Trustees of the Loysville Orphans’ Home, 
is now a Director of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, 
and has several times been a member of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod’s delegation to the conventions of the United Lutheran 
Church in America. He is the author of numerous articles that 
have appeared in the LUTHERAN CHURCH WORK, LUTHERAN SUR- 
VEY, AND LUTHERAN QUARTERLY. A _ two-volume series of ser- 
mons on the Gospels for the Church Year, under the title, 
“THE KINGLY CuHRIST;’ and recently a book on the ‘Foun- 





YorK County CONFERENCE 681 
DATIONS OF FarrH”’ have been issued from his pen by the United 
Lutheran Publication House. He was the lecturer, under the 


Holman Foundation, on the Augsburg Confession, at the Gettys- 
burg Theological Seminary in May, 1924. 


ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA. 


Rev. G. ALBERT Getty, D. D., Pastor 





ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, YORK, PA 


The language question played a very important part in the 
early history of the Lutheran Church in the City of York. The 
original settlers who came to this land from across the sea clung 
tenaciously to their mother tongue and insisted that public worship 
should be conducted in the German language; their children born 
in this country and familiar from their childhood with the English 
preferred that the services should be held in the vernacular. In 
Christ Lutheran Church of York this difference of opinion led, 
in 1836, to the withdrawal of a considerable number of the mem- 


682 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


bers and the establishment of “The First Evangelical English 
Lutheran Congregation,’ (Saint Paul’s). The formation of this 
“Wnelish Congregation” did not settle the question for Christ 
Church and within a decade the mother congregation was again 
rent by discussions as to the language to be used in worship. In 
order to avoid a second split in the congregation, a plan was worked 
out and submitted to the congregation in the form of amendments 
to its ‘‘Kirchen-Ordnung,”’ or constitution, which amendments 
were formally adopted, May 24, 1847. These amendments pro- 
vided substantially as follows: First—Those members who pre- 
ferred “preaching and worship in the English language’ were al- 
lowed to form themselves into a Second Branch, while those who 
preferred “preaching and worship in the German language’”’ were 
to constitute a First Branch of the Congregation. 

Second—The Second Branch was allowed to elect and call a 
minister, who, like the minister of -the First Branch, must be a 
member of “one of the Evangelical Lutheran Synods in the United 
States of America.’ Both branches were to constitute one con- 
eregation, which was to remain owner of all the property. The 
minister of the English Branch, as such, was not to be a member 
of the Corporate Vestry. 

Third—The Second Branch was authorized to adopt a Con- 
stitution. It was to use English exclusively, while the services 
of the First Branch were to be exclusively inGerman. Each was 
to support its own minister, and use the church alternately “at 
such times for German and English as has been hitherto the 
practice during the five years last past.” 

Fourth—The German pastor was to have the use of the par- 
sonage. All regular collections were to be paid into, and all ex- 
penses of maintenance out of, the common treasury. Each 
branch was allowed to take collections for its own purposes. 

Fifth—The Second Branch was empowered to admit members 
who should have full corporate rights and privileges, although 
they contributed to the support of but one branch and although 
they had not subscribed to the original Constitution of the Con- 
eregation, called the ‘““Kirchen-Ordnung.”’ 

Finally—It was provided that the amendments should become 
a part of the Kirchen-Ordnung when they had been ratified by 
the ‘Vestry or Corporation.”’ This ratification was given unan- 
imously on June 19th, 1847. 


Under the terms of this agreement those who were interested 
in the formation of an English Branch immediately began work. 
A committee was appointed to secure the names of those who 
wished to become members of the English section of the congrega- 
tion, a constitution was prepared, and on October 19th, 1847, the 
formal organization was effected. One week later an election was 
held and a church council of six members was chosen. Steps were 
taken at once to secure a pastor for the English Branch and the 


YORKCOUNTY CONFERENCE 683 


following February the Reverend James Allen Brown became the 
first pastor of the new organization. 

It soon became apparent that the one church building was 
inadequate to meet the needs of both branches and on July 29th, 
1848, the Corporate Vestry adopted a preamble and resolutions 
setting forth the need of a separate church building for the English 
Branch and its belief that the new church should be erected by 
the whole congregation. During the months that followed, di- 
vision of sentiment as to the location of the new building and as 
to the means and methods of financing the project delayed definite 
action and it was not until late in May, 1849, that it was finally 
decided that the new church building should be erected on the 
graveyard belonging to the congregation and facing on Duke 
Street. Meanwhile Rev. J. A. Brown had tendered his resigna- 
tion as pastor, and quitted the field in July, 1849. His successor 
Rev. Abraham Essick, took up his work October 21st following. 

During the summer, work upon the new building was begun. 
The Germans were urged to subscribe to its cost so that they 
might have Christ Church to themselves, and the English that 
they might have a building of their own. Some subscriptions 
were in money, others in materials and labor. The corner-stone 
was laid August 25th, 1850. Rev. Essick, after a pastorate of 
less than ten months, closed his labors in this field July 24th, 1850. 
The third pastor of the English Branch was the Rev. Charles 
Martin, M. D., who served from February 9th, 1851, to January 
8th, 1855. Doctor Martin’s call specified that he should receive 
a salary of not less than Five Hundred Dollars, with hopes of an 
increase. This was One Hundred Dollars more than his pred- 
ecessors had received. 

The new church was dedicated by Doctor Martin ‘‘to the 
service of Almighty God” July 18th, 1851. The building was a 
plain but substantial brick structure, two stories in height, having 
the Sunday School rooms on the first floor and the main auditor- 
ium on the second. The edifice has been remodeled and beautified 
several times, a tower and portico have been added, and other 
improvements made, but it is the original building in which the 
congregation still worships. 

Zion Lutheran Church owes much to the pastor who succeeded 
Doctor Martin. The Reverend Aaron Walter Lilly, then of Balti- 
more, was called to the pastorate of the Second Branch in 1855 
and began his labors in York on June Ist of that year. He served 
the congregation faithfully and efficiently for a period of forty- 
two years and four months. During this tume he added to the 
membership of the congregation, cultivated the spirit of benevo- 
lence and developed in the hearts of his people a love for himself 
and a remarkable degree of devotion to the church. ‘The years 
were years of preplexity and difficulty. The plan of having two 
branches of one congregation was bound sooner or later to breed 


684. History OF WEST PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


trouble and as the Second Branch grew stronger it demanded 
ereater independence, with results that at times threatened the 
peace and prosperity of both organizations. In 1860 the Second 
Branch determined to secure a separate charter. This step ap- 
pears to have awakened less antagonism than might be expected, 
and in due time the charter was obtained and the action approved 
by the corporate vestry. During the years immediately following 
there were conferences between the representatives of the two 
congregations which resulted in 1864 in an agreement by the terms 
of which each congregation became the sole owner of its property, 
though there were certain mutual rights reserved on each side, 
such as that of burying the dead in each other’s graveyards so 
long as there was room for them, etc. At a later date the two 
congregations became involved in a bitter dispute over the di- 
viding line between the parsonage lots, which dispute got into 
court, and was also brought before the synod. It was not until 
1889 that this matter was finally adjusted to the satisfaction of 
both parties. During the latter year a final and formal agree- 
ment was made by which the two congregations became entirely 
separate and distinct corporations, deeds were exchanged by which 
each relinquished its rights to the other’s property, and permanent 
peace and harmony were established between the mother congrega- 
tion and its child. For more than a generation this amicable spirit 
has characterized the relations of the pastors and people of both 
churches. 


Doctor Lilly because of failing health, and especially because 
of impaired sight, resigned from the pastorate in 1897. It was 
with the utmost reluctance that his resignation was accepted. 
The Rev. Thomas Thompson Everett, D. D., then of Cobleskill, 
N. Y., was Zion’s next pastor. He served the congregation from 
January lst, 1898, to May 31st, 1914, a period of sixteen years 
and five months. Febrary Ist, 1915, the Reverend George Albert 
Getty, of Baltimore, assumed the pastorate, which position he 
still fills. 


YorK County CONFERENCE 685 


During its history of nearly 
three quarters of a century Zion 
Lutheran Church has been an 
important factor in the activi- 
ties of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod. The congregation has 
given eight of her sons to the 
ministry, the first of whom was 
the Reverend Samuel B. Barnitz, 
D. D. Zion’s spirit of benevo- 
lence has kept pace with the 
growing demands of the Church 
and her contributions for various 
activities have placed her in the 
front rank in our synod. At the 
present time she is supporting 
her own foreign missionaries in 
the foreign field (Reverend and : 

Mrs. James Russell Fink, of Rev. J. R. Fink 
Sattenapalli, India) besides her 

other benevolent work. As the years have passed such organiza- 
tions as Were necessary have been formed within the congregation 
and today in addition to the Sunday School, there is an active 
Woman’s Missionary Society, a Ladies’ Aid Society, and a Luther 
League. 

(The foregoing sketch is based in large part upon a series of 
articles prepared by G. Hay Kain, Esq., and published in ‘‘Zion 
Lutheran Herald,” the monthly parish paper of the congregation, 
during 1915 and 1916). 





SKETCHES OF ZION LUTHERAN PASTORS 
Ry. JAMES ALLEN Brown, D.D., LL.D. 


James Allen Brown was born of Quaker parents in Drumore 
township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, February 19th, 1821. 
In early life he became a school teacher and while engaged in this 
occupation prepared himself for college. In the fall of 1841 he 
entered the Senior class at Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, and 
graduated the following June. He again took up teaching, but 
determining to preach, was licensed October 19th, 1845. He im- 
mediately took charge of Luther Chapel, Baltimore, where he 
served for three years. February Ist, 1848, he became the first 
pastor of Zion Lutheran Congregation of York. He remained in 
York but little more than a year, closing his work here July 6th, 


686 History oF Wrst PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


1849. From 1849 to 1859 he was pastor of Saint Matthew’s 
Lutheran Church of Reading, Pennsylvania. From 1859 to 1861 
he taught Theology and Ancient Languages in Newberry College, 
Newberry, South Carolina, being made President of the College 
in 1860. He was compelled to leave the south in 1861 because of 
his ardent Unionism. Coming north he served as Chaplain of 
the 87th P. V. I., from 1861 to 1862, and as Chaplain of the U. 
S. Army Hospital at York from 1862 to 1864. In 1864 he was 
elected Chairman of the Faculty and Professor of Didactic 
Theology in the Seminary at Gettysburg, continuing in that 
position until 1880, when he retired from active work because of 
impaired health. In 1881 he moved to Lancaster, where he died 
June 19th, 1882. He received the degree of D. D. in 1859 from 
Pennsylvania College, and of LL. D. in 1879 from Wooster (Ohio) 
University. He was president of several district synods and of 
the General Synod in 1866. While in York he married Miss 
Mary E. Hay, a descendant of Bartholomew Maul, the first 
parochial school master of Christ Church, and of John Hay, who 
for years was a vestryman in the old congregation. The wife 
and nine children, including J. Hay Brown, who became Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, survived the 
subject of this sketch. 





Rey. ABRAHAM Essicx, A.M. 


Abraham Essick was born November 17th, 1822, at Quincy, 
Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He was valedictorian of his 
class at Pennsylvania College in 1847. From his alma mater he 
received the degrees of A. B. and A. M. He was tutor in the col- 
lege 1847-48, attended the seminary 1848-49, was licensed to 
preach in 1849, and the same year took up his work in York as 
the second pastor of Zion Lutheran Congregation. He served in 
this capacity for a period of only nine months, when he resigned 
to become Professor of Ancient Languages at Capital University 
Columbus, Ohio, 1850-54. He was pastor at Springfield, Ohio, 
1854-56, teaching a part of his time at Wittenberg College. He 
was pastor at Winchester, Virginia, 1856-57; Principal of Luther- 
ville Female Seminary, 1858-59; pastor at Gettysburg, 1861-64; 
at Bedford, 1864-66; and at New Franklin, Ohio, 1866-70. In 
1871 he retired, living for a time at Ellsworth, Kansas, afterward 
moving to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he died December 
dist, 1904. 


Rev. CHARLES Martin, M. D. 


Charles Martin, the third pastor of Zion Lutheran Congre- 
gation, was born near Whitemarsh (Fort Washington), Mont- 


YorRK COUNTY CONFERENCE 687 


gomery County, Pennsylvania, January 11th, 1812. He was egrad- 
uated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1833 with the degree 
of M. D., practiced medicine for about one year, and then entered 
the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. He entered the active 
ministry in 1836 and was for a time pastor of Saint James’ Lutheran 
Church of New York City. His pastorate in York extended from 
February 9th, 1851, to January 8th, 1855. In 1857 he became 
principal of what was afterwards known as the Lutherville 
Female Seminary. In 1859 he established the Collegiate In- 
stitute at Warren, Illinois. During the Civil War he was sur- 
geon of the 96th Illinois Volunteers. At the close of the war he 
became principal of the Female Seminary at Hagerstown, Mary- 
land, afterwards Kee Mar College. In 1869 he moved to Saint 
Joseph, Missouri, and established the Young Ladies’ Institute, 
which he served as President until 1894, when failing health and 
eye-sight compelled him to retire. During his stay at Saint 
Joseph he organized and served a mission at East Norway (now 
Moray) Kansas, about twenty miles from Saint Joseph. This 
work he carried on for nearly eighteen years, for some years gra- 
tuitously. He died at Saint Joseph, March 7th, 1896. 


Rev. AARON WALTER Litty, D. D. 


Aaron Walter Lilly was born at Turbotville, Northumberland 
County, Pennsylvania, December 3rd, 1822. Graduated at Penn- 
sylvania College in 1848, he taught for a year and then entered 
the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, where he finished his 
course in 1851. In the latter year he entered the active ministry 
as pastor of the Third Lutheran Church of Baltimore, which he 
served until he came to Zion, York. He was the fourth pastor 
of Zion Lutheran Church of York, and his faithful and successful 
ministry in this field extended over a period of more than forty- 
two years, from June Ist, 1855, to October Ist, 1897. He was 
made a member of the General Synod’s Board of Home Missions 
upon its organization in 1869, and remained a member until 
1883. On the Board of Church Extension he served from its 
beginning in 1869 to 1891, being President of the Board from 1874 
to the end of his term of service. He was a director—and for 
some time President of the Board of Directors—of the Theological 
Seminary at Gettysburg; the President of the Board of Trustees 
of Irving College from 1890 until his death. He was Secretary 
of the West Pennsylvania Synod from 1865 to 1867 and its 
President from 1868 to -1871. With Rev. J. A. Goodlin, D. D., 
he founded and for some time edited the ‘‘Lutheran Missionary 
Journal.’’? Pennsylvania College conferred upon him the degree 
of D. D. in 1885. Doctor Lilly’s ministry in York was signally 


688 HistoRY oF West PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD 


successful and his memory is still cherished by the older members 
of the congregation which he served so long and so well. 


Rev. Tuomas THompson Everert, D. D. 


Thomas Thompson Everett was born February 26th, 1840, 
at Peekskill, N. Y. He received his preliminary education in the 
Mohawk Valley Seminary, and subsequently entered the field of 
journalism, doing newspaper work in New York, Albany and 
Pittsburg. In 1868 he entered the Lutheran Theological Sem- 
inary at Gettysburg, and after graduation therefrom served as 
pastor of Lutheran churches in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, Dayton, 
Ohio, and Brooklyn, New York. While in Dayton he was a 
Trustee of Wittenberg College and served as President of the 
Miami Synod for two successive terms. 

From 1883 to 1887 he was private secretary to Robert E. 
Pattison, Governor of Pennsylvania. After his retirement from 
this position he re-entered the ministry, filling pastorates at Red 
Hook and Cobleskill, N. Y. January Ist, 1898, he became the 
fifth pastor of Zion Lutheran Church of York, which position he 
filled until May 31st, 1914. When he relinquished the pastoral 
office in York, he retired to Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where he 
died August 25th following. 

Doctor Everett was four times a delegate to the General 
Synod. He made two trips to Europe and preached in some of 
the leading churches of London, Paris, Geneva, Liverpool and 
Dublin. In 1881 the degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by 
Washington and Lee University. He was ranked among the 
most gifted and polished pulpit orators of his generation in the 
Lutheran Church in America. 


GENERAL INDEX 


A 
Abbottstown, 51, 56, 60, 67 
Abele, J. F. 84 
Adams County, 51 
Albert, Jacob, 74, 84. 
Allegheny Synod, 92. 
Architecture, Primitive, 38f. 


B 


Bager, John George, 47, 58, 68. 
Baptism;-Hirst,-2ofi, 209i. 
Barnitz, Samuel B., 97. 
Beneficiary Education, 119. 
Bleimier’s, 50, 52, 63f. 
Boundaries, O1ff. 

Brunholz, Peter, 39, 41, 43f. 


C 


Canadochly, 50, 64. 

Candler, David, 37ff, 46. 

fear ligle, ooo 60s (01 2.2 OD, 8 OL 
Do, O(a lato, J4: 

Carmellss Py Ol: 

Central Missionary Society, 95. 

Central Synod, 92. 

Chambersburg, 2a BOUL BOTs (00.7 OU} 
84. 


Chanceford, 64. 

Christ Church, NOLK se 20l we O4 ii 
AD SAS. 50; 7A, 

Church Extension, 98. 

Circular letter concerning establish- 
ing W. Pa. Synod, 76f, 81f. 

Circular letter following first meet- 
ing, 87ff. 

College Endowment, 116. 

Colloquium, Private, 73. 

Conestoga Council, 14. 

Conference Districts, 86. 

Conference, First cis-Susquehanna, 68 

Conference, Special, at Greencastle, 
Vik 

Conference, Abe OK Wo. 
(eit 

Congregations, First, 25ff, 31f. 

Constitution, Original, 85. 

Cresap, Capt. Thomas, 36. 

Cresap, Michael, 14f, 31, 

Cumberland Valley, ope 


Special, 


689 


D 
hee See First, to General Synod, 


Deutsch, Philip, 49. 
Dickinson College, 59. 

Bisges’ Ghoice, 15, 20% 25, 27f. 
Digges, John, 15. 

Division of Synod, O1f. 

Dover, 50, 65, 67. 


E 


Early living conditions, 34f. 
Education, 107. 

Ernest, J. F., 61. 

Evangelical ‘Lutheran Intelligencer, 


Evangelical Magazine, 121. 
Evangelical Review, 124. 
Evangelical Zeitung, 122. 


F 


Falkner, Daniel, 24. 

Falkner, Justus, 11, 34. 

Female Education, 117. 

First Meeting of W. Penna. Synod, 
84ff. 

First Missionary to First Synod, 11ff. 

Fissel’s, 50, 54, 65. 

Foreign Missions, 86, 100ff. 

Foretokens of Territorial Divisions, 
shies 

Free Schools, 65 

Frey’s, 63f. 

Freysville, 50, 64 

Friedensaal’s, 63. 


G 


General Synod, 73ff, 78, 87. 

Gettysburg, 56. 

Gettysburg Academy, 112. 

Gettysburg College, 114. 

Gettysburg Theological 
Gr outy 107: 

Glenville, 50. 

Goering, Jacob, 49ff, 53, 58f, 61ff, 68. 

Goodlin. Ia Wi 97; 

Graber, wey 56, et 80, 84. 

Greencastle, 65f, 74, 84, 

Grob, John, 51f, 54, 65. 67. 


Seminary, 


690 
H 
Handschuh, John Frederick, 44. 
Hanover, 20, 26, 42, 47, 50ff, 60, 621, 
64f. 


Hartman, A: o3,.0d. 

Heilig, George, 79, 84. 

Heim, George, 86. 

Heim, William, 84. 

Helmuth, 63; 70. 

Henkel, Paul, 61. 

Herbst, John, HSl, 0; 00) O77 (al, (Ou; 


84, 90. 
Heyer, Jee SU teO nom LOE 
Holzschwam, 50, DoWOls Go: 
Society of. the 


Home Missionary 
General Synod, 96. 
Home Missions, 94 ff. 


I 


Immigration, 11ff, 15ff, 20f. 
India Mission, 102. 
Indians, 12ff, ip 

Irving College, 118. 


4) 


Jacinsky, F. ee pe CONG 
Jacobs, David, 

Jacobs, Michadl: 4113. 
Jensen, Rasmus, oon 


K 
Keller, Benjamin, 74, 79, 84f, 90. 
Kessler, David, 5d. 
Kirchner, John Casper, 47. 
Kitzmiller, John Jacob, 25ff. 
Kocherthal, Pastor, 17 
Kraft, Valentine, 45, 47. 
Kreutz Creek, 45, 50, 64. 
Krigler, Jacob, 79, 84. 
Kurtz, Benjamin; /9j0s0,0903 
Kurtz, Dantel, 64, 73f. 
Kurtz2) IN 43 A9f eos 63808) 


L 


Licenses and Ordinations, 125ff. 

Lischy, Jacob, 41. 

Literature, 121ff. 

Littel, Nathan, 79. 

Lochman, Augustus, 74, 84. 

Lochman, George, 67. 

Lord’s Supper, Rule concerning un- 
ion churches, 86. 

Lower Bermudian, 45, 50, 58, 65. 

Lutge; AwU. 60702: 

Lutheran Church Work and Ob- 
server, 123. 

Lutheran Observer, 123. 

Lutheran Quarterly, 124° 


GENERAL INDEX 


M 


Mason and Dixon’s Line, 91. 

Maul, Bartholomaus, 45f. 

MceAllisterville, 20, 51, 60, 65, 71. 

Melsheimer; Fo V., 5217 545656346G) 
62, 64, 67. 

Melsheimer, J. F., 53ff. 

Sete at first meeting of Synod, 

Mercersburg, 65f. 

Meyer, P. U.;°34 

Ministerium’s action concerning new 

synod, 82f, 90. 

Ministers without Charges, 150ff. 

Missionary activity, 94. 

Missionary Convention at Mechan- 

icsburg, 95. 

pie On First, to) Hirsts synods 

Missionary, The First, 24ff. 

Moeller, [2 F779; 34: 

Moravians, 40f, 43. 

Morris, Charles, 55f. 

Muhlenberg, Henry Melchoir, 11, 33 
AOff, 46, 60, 62, 66. 

Muhlenberg, Henry, Jr., 68. 

Muhlenberg Mission, 101. 


N 


Newlanders, 18f. 
New Synod, Reasons for, 75, 80f. 
Nyberg, Laurentius, 40, 46f. 


O 


Officers, First, 85. 

Ohio Synod, 91. 

Ordination, First, 87. 

Ordinations, Licenses and, 125ff. 

Organization, First congregational, 
2Diinvod fe 

Organization of W. Pa. Synod, 77ff. 

Osterlohs J. 7779, 84 


4 








Paradise, 65, 71. 

Parochial reports, 64. 

Pastors and *Pastorates. loli 
Penn, William, 12f, 28. 
Preliminary History, 58ff. 


Q 
Quickel’s Church, 45, 
R 


Kaus, Lucas,45n. 
Rebenack, John Carl, 


50) 63f. 


53, 86. 


GENERAL INDEX 


Redemptioners, 18f, 46. 

Reformed and Lutheran, 32f. 

Rieman, Conrad, 51ff. 

Ritz, Augustus, 64. 

owe, A. D., 102. 

Muthraui, 19: 

Ruthrauff; John, 52, 54, 64f, 66, 74, 
79, 81, 84. 

Rudolph, Carl, 47. 


S 


Sanno, Frederick, 52f, 54. 

Sattler’s, 50, 63f, 65. 

Schaefier, #. 1D.; 59: 

Schaum, John Helfrich, 42, 44ff. 

SOI CKe eo a Cre O40) O0,f Cod. 
73f, 78ff, 84f. 

DOMMUCKCE Wow O40 i, fol. 2 

Scholl, George, 103, 151. 

echroeter, Daniel) o1if -o8fi, 67, 71. 

peuuitz, Ghristian, 24° 

Schulze, Wm., 74, 79, 84f. 

Schuster s; 45, 47,52, 63i. 

Schwerdfeger, John Samuel, 46. 

Scriba, Wm., 84. 

Seminary Endowment Fund, 112. 

Seminary Professors, 112. 

Sharretts, Nicholas, 94. 

Shippensburg, 23, 50ff, 60, 62, 66. 

Special Conference at York, 73f. 

ee Conference at Greencastle, 
79. 

Special or District Meeting, 68ff. 

Sprecher, Samuel, 117. 

Stahle’s, 50, 64. 

stecher, Henry, 56, 74, 79, 84. 

Sleek J. VE, G0. 

St. Matthew’s, Hanover, 25ff, 37. 

Stoever, John Caspar, 11f, 24f, 27ff, 
oll. 


691 


Siraver.s, ov. 

LYON, iene 64s 

Synod, First, 44. 

Synodical rule, 62. 

Synod, Petition to organize, 57. 

Synod, Resolution to meet west of 
Susquehanna, 55. 


ip 


Territorial Divisions, Foretokens of, 
DEN 

Territory, Original, 85. 

Title, Original, 85. 

Torkillus, Reorus, 11, 34. 

Tressler Orphans’ Home, 120. 


U 


Union Churches, 32f. 
Upper Bermudian, 47, 50, 52, 58: 


W 


Mees General Synod of 1869, 
Weygand, John A., 18. 

Wildbahn, John Frederick, 48, 50. 
Wolimle Bel O2t 4172. 

Wolf’s, 45, 50, 64. 

Woman’s College, 118. 

Women’s Missionary Society, 104ff. 


Me 


Yeager; Wm., 7/9; 84. 

Ork 1 it 7 eoole. Oat Of ey Iii: 
York, Beginning of, 32, 35. 
York County settlers, 20. 
VCquine sis Dei 


INDEX OF PICTURES 


A svenius\ OL) = tite se ene ed 
Albers, blermauaee ee ee eeet 00D 
Albert AG@hgs oy ate. se meet 
Albright, Clintons, may OD. 
Alleman, H. GEAR gl eee 
NIG Ary a Lee) Se eae ee ee ae 659, 675 
Anstadt, Henry.. Behe basen cae Ob ioae 
Apple WHat mets een aL 
Arnold, Ciacecta [RUN Regt ed dite 670 
Auditorium, Pirst. Garlisieg 62. 309 
Augsburg, Vor ine Wee 601 
Augsburg Parsonage, York......602 
Baker, alo lew sre n.tyo ee ee PAH 
Bell OA berteny oan cece ener ter 649 
Berg, Andrew.. he ao eee al 
Bergstresser, F. i, A yak ae 
Bergstresser, Ralph AV crea teen 202 
Berkey, Harvey E.. ee Loe 
Bethlehem, Bendersville........ 203 
Bethlehem, (Jefferson Charge).. .484 
Bickel, Harve Monikedose TO ck Ee OO 
Bobb; it. Cole Johns Gos ar. 2 eo US 
Bower, 11 SiN LEG a. aan pee ee 600 
Bowersox, George: Ey; 4-4. oa Oe 
Bowie) Uae wee eines res 218 
Bowman, sc.ariya tea eee ee OO 
Breidenbaughy ware mer 7. 
Brenneman. Gea eee eee eno OF 
Brenneman Weal ee ce ee ee A89 
Brown Wiis Waa eee oe pe: 
Burger, Se Ge eee ee oy ah ee ere 185 
Burkholder, LieBenet eee ey! 
Bushee AT RR ie te nee A 
Calvary (Salenvyee. =) ate erode 
Canadochlvaljutheranw seers ae 
Carlisle Springs Lutheran...-....369 
Center (Upper Frankford).......428 
Christe ASpersee. ac = cline rat 207 
Christel) allastow ia eee 454, 455 
Christ Geulysoutide mane retre ee PAu! 
Christ. VLanchesteraeis. waeee se 499 
Christ, (Mublenberg).s...... 2" 506 
Christ, Shrewsbury:: 25. 0. 2 508 
Christ, SDTV Ge ape 
Christ, York.. . 604, 619 
Christ Church, York, Charater- 
istic'servicelin. stan ey eee 628 
Clares Rober IT weenie eee ee 659 
Cline sJames:at. ar agen Peer 
CUTEZ I A COD WAY sei ae ater mene 155 
(obles Oliver ID ie wene ae eens 202 


Coover, Melanchthon.. Pepa Abe 
Cross, W. Morgan.. LOOT, 
CullersS Heian HAL, 555, 561, 565 
Curran. Avs Cue acs) ae eee 4146 
Curran, Geo. J 5400). oe a eee ee 
Currany J 2D sai eee AA6 
Dasher Soloniou. a4. ie ie) wean 436 
Déan-Oscar Cr.s bern eae Sapaaks 200 
Dem wolt cA sen ee ee ee 638 
Deveney, Howard E.. OOo 
Diebh FS aA a roth, ae anys eee 266 
Diffenderfer, Gi Mae See nee 307 
Dillsburg Lutheran Parsonage.. .458 
Dininvers Gi.) hier ene eae 586 
Behrhart.aW ss Eh. eee 
Ec lsesser Ba Ay. . oe eee 661 
Bly George: Be. et ee 198 
Emanuel ST liane RUBE renee: AES) 
Emanuel, breysville. 0. 02 / noe 
Emmanuel, Y OLR a: capgee ee 579 
Enders, George Wile ee ae 636 
Erney, pee Beaten ein bes ta 187 
EWerettsyL fal seer 3 cee es A eae ae 
byystery Wit Ugo ater vere A ceme e 
Balkenstein,, Eipoo eesti cca 
Pasinacht,*A, Goa) ae ee 165 
Feldnian, cWe [lie 8 eee ee ee 673 
Fifty- eithth Annual Convention. 147 
Pinks) 2 RA. ee eee 685 
Birst Carlisle, yin. es ee 2.8 
First, Chambersburg cn. saeeeee es 
First’ Church Building West of 
pusquehannay, cue, 7 eee 
First Home of Theological Semi- 
DAY. ras oe eee Tie 14 
Pirst:-New: Oxtord’) ce) 2) eee 
First Seminary. > all din caer ee ie 
Ploto;, Cas Fike ee ee eae een SU 
Fishel, Lester A.. 5 Saba boon 
Preass WS ae gc ee ee eee 307 
Friedensaal’s (Seven Valleys)... .550 
Geeseys Fo iS.. Pes ee nts a oe 905 
Gelwixs Drs coVis eon. ae eto 
Getty) GavA Deri ee hese ee ee 680 
Gladfelter, sae ig Maer mA’. tt ae Tay 
Gladfelter, CeSier Re ened Mee 29) 55 
Gladfelter, Nathan. Sat Rasher 


Gladfelter, Pabeg tere ee ee 193 
Glanding, W. M. B.. 


692 


INDEX OF PICTURES 


arlatielten: Welet Seo ca soo 
TLAULCLLOK ue DID El. a4 oh eee TO 
CFOCTIN@ I) ACO ere et OUT eS ool 
LOOU Gale on lVin nn eee teh eee ola 
Gotw ald, F. (ai one yee es ee 179 
Gotw ald, Taher 2 eae eee 190 
Grace, Tw o Taverns. eee Aon) 
Grace, Reco ligi see eee ae a8, 
Grace, COLE eee ae eh eee he 643 
Greencastle Lutheran.. 5304, 000 


Greencastle Lutheran Parsonage. 309 


Prove misviartines ole, bee O40) 
Caiscteerome: Vit... ys kee oslo 
iticoga Vy al ver: WL)... ere. deere 540 
Piatere Crlelis lie ce mes. cee 443 
Bigcervicrle. Barr i tee ee eo oot 
MALL WAS ctf See tee sete 516 
Prone. LAmMer Hes eu a FO00 
Maser VIM IRM Pein 379, 659 
BE ste LOC Wins. fete gO ete 659 
Pees, JOWNILLeNnTy, ») yan e ye tooe 
Hartman, ACES Ce Aa ee. ieee 159 
Hauer, Daniel J.. Te 574 
Pees He oer aye. Se nas 
Hee iinlialice bon Pa Time eter rise. 2 415 
Me LGlisi veel sm tere fe ac meer Ghee Ad2 
MeO bvewys Olle bivetee 24 es O00 
Henry, Chauncey E. BOO 
Henry, Michael E., rea § Ee 5 5 
Hershey, ON i Gas ae ale oe, roane an 477 
1 SA ead SINS SEE Aes oes I AEM 983 
Hesse, Willen meio mete ta, E 176 
Hollinger, dake NY Dpto Bele end 282. 
Horick, Rarer bee 360 
mere Narles ross... Sones 181 
Huber, TAGUry sll er eens br tt On 
Baier ONAL. boas. oe. Meek cy. 254 
Immell, George W.; Sr........... O22 
DOCU ORES NOR ae ene oe 976 


Jenkins, POU Le. 
Jerusalem (New Freedon).. 
Junior Building of Tressler Or- 


DLR Se ELOMIC geen Msemes tle nt ie 
menmmerere avid’ S.2. qiase ss) 5: 261 
PCLT OL ely, eke Coat eee we OD 
i LENG Ted Bir 7 ld RED Bea Ae ie 10 
Peelers (rte yew te wheres. ee Doe 
POSSI e rt) OSED Useske tn ook ree 561 
iecslern 1 Chemneny axe a tae ee 561 
Plmnedinat.:) Olin WA tae eee 0 
Pre LOC h bythe, Sen ee i ne 7 
Wonlers:( Rossville)a. a. 5e +0 aa O41 
rollers Gt iene ane) Go 246 
Prsecrei avid Lae. te eee 168 
loo CERI Ad CAROLE pa bece ie tds i 169 


foun harles, Hae es. ee 


693 





Tenmp, William Ase ae oe eee Oe 
Rain kie: Jen. (ta aie emer dec oOO 
Beach 4D aes ss was eae eee OO 
EPebanonstlebanon ja. eae A9( 
Lele.) Oln, DleCnry 2a) eee Oo 2 
Linde Rh alnltaweerkwen we pa Oa 
Tobe we LLArOld op ee ees 271 
TIVIN OStOls Gc tA os et ot ets Coe 456 
Livingston se eters... et te 653 
Bochinon este # Five.’ v8 acre 634 
mongenecker, A branes see 
Lower Frankford Lutheran......371 
ilanges, Hdmund tn 9. ede 167 
INE Wetatel Fob Cielebar tial (Gy) 20 ae oe bos 498 
IVE alae POE ials eas, «Ao Rae ee ee 640 
Martin Eleni yoy et ey ene ne oo 
IWPAULEI a CGD Liga eueners ess AVF 
Memorial, Shippensburg........ 416 
INIenGeS Sl cer lamer. ne aan ee oo 674 
VIED OCS Well ee ee eee 7 © 
Messiah Church Council, York. .646 
WViessialiltall toasts ee or ee eee 
IVIGSSIAD RY OL fem tern eet wee 644 
Metzger, J. A.. Pe katt eee ar) 
NICE ee Liptay eee te « 384 
Miller, BU ELLD CSPUVW eee geet Mitek cee teen SPA 
Miller, Mahlon S.. Be eee 10) 
Mortensen, Ludwig (OE ahibeiad A32 
Moul, TAob tL emer ae 265 
Mountz, San Vi ge een ed oe ee ee 287 
VED wilere 2 Kee eee aerate ee 263 


. .204 
S518 


Mount Carmel (Mt. Carmel).. 
Mount Holly Springs Lutheran. 


Mount Joy (Mt. Jov).. Be PATS 
MounteZion Lutheran et) A474 
Whollen aA [berig@ ea. eee 
IViviers,2 miele ene ee ese. a, 465 
New Seminary Building......... hie 


Nicely Georges Winwts eels eer 
INAS Och.) ee eee ee gee 


Original WA Cad clive eer eee 114 
Original College Buildings a 
Gampuss We ree one © ee 16 
Over, etc pet a ag 5 
Oyler, IW IVa CKGyeee ery aoe eee O22 
Presidents Women’s Missionary 
SOCLCL Vises gree Uae taspents 105 
aver.) aCOD se ae ee aeons, OOO 
Rehmayer, LOUSs Piven ee 494. 
Rodis Pe) ON TEN aera rn eee 0 
PudisulbUViarting | ae een sees 188 
Reighard, John Ae) een nee 402 
Richards eee) Mee ee oe 


694 


Pipes ACMUMUON shone ete oct 152 
Ruby, Edward C.. AOD. 
PRU ELE at eae a Cee eh OO.L 
ode gaia BUNS sung a chee oe Pee oe Ae 458 
SAIS AAC ODUS: | cab) mime ie taolts A84 

Salem, INL ATION.. 0 eases tc oO 
Salem (GH ek namin at tg O40 
STEM GRASS ey Ed DH age Mie Pe Sey ee 616 
SOMO GC6GLSe ism bese alee, 15k 
SCHL LZR Vir leas) eer ca ayer aie er as 429 
Sanders), Charlessh ®icp cetera 183 
SGhmuUGkernws sae ee eee ae 10 
second; Chantbersburg.:..., ..a.020 
Second German, Carlisle. . 314 
GU LUM MV Vice Dict Ware Ritts wes are cee 174 
Sharp, IVE See te Ae Oar ee DAS 
pletion. Geet wn. cae eee eee Zio 


Shepperd, J. Wiley... 
Shrewsbury Lutheran Parsonage S71 


Shulls nara a oe) Seem Bee 
Slifer, Wii Ge Sat cee tan Seba Zs Cock 418 
Smith, E. M.. Oe Way Oe 
Smith, Mervin E.. ee Le 
Solomon’ S, Grindstone Hill. . 398 
Spangler, Edward A............ 561 
Spanwlerstienry Re...) kee eke AY 
LOCK: SARS aie ete a ee 296 
Stein, ee in see: eae eae Dee 
Stock, HeBie eee ee emer D 
DELOCKS, DeRIR OV. sr eecy ge sae eka 186 
SLUM peA Calne) pene ee OL 
pwoope: Williams oo 293 
St. Bartholomew’s (West Man- 
OLN joes eats ate ce este 283 
St. David’s (West Manheim)... .284 
Sige ACODian CllersOn ate ee A85 
St. Jacob’s (Muhlenberg).......507 


St James Ghanceford)25. 4. > 444 


St. James’, , Gettysburg.220, 223, 225 
St. James’, Hallam. . 481 
St. James’, (Upper Frankford). 428 
St James’, Wrenksvilless seae Soy 209 
St; James’, OLE: ee ae oe aie, 648 
St. John’s, Abbottstown........ 194 
St. John’s, Boiling See oi ares 2390 
St. John’s (Dillsburg).. 158 
Sie) Onis: Greenvillage.. -.. 346 
Sigs Olines Milani pL Olle aan 2, 
Stas ohnis (Lebanon) A ( Seaees. eRe A490 
St. John’s, Littlestown.. Lah 
St. John’s; Mercersburg... 3; .4 aa8) 
St. John’s, New Freedom....... ony) 
ot. Luke's, (Chancelord sew. 448 
StrlLuke’s, SCotlanGemes 9a ae aoa 
Steluke's,.Willianison tessa! 
SU Lkerse ey Onkwe wer eaten ene 651 
Staveark s; Elanovier wan iene 26 
StaMark’s’ Heidlershurca).. sen 27D 


INDEX OF PICTURES 


St. Mark’s, West Fairview...... A433 
otrdVark'ss Y.orkaieee ars canes 655 
St. Mark’s Parsonage, York..... 656 
St. Matthew’s, Hanover... meant 250 
St. Matthew's, York... . ; 
St. Paul’s, Big Cove Tannery... 376 


Stab aul sCarhcleaesan ie eee 315 
SL Paul’s, Dillsburs a) peyaeee 458 
st. Paul’s, Fayetteville....4. ....349 
StaPaul's, Felton eee ee A90 
St Paul's hametown we aa 166 
St: Paul's: Donoveraw sete ee 253 
St. Paul’s, Harney, Md.. 240 
Slatauls, Littlestown. . /. moe 
Se Pauls, MeConnellsburg... ea far 
St. Paul’s, ae nel ya 1 au) 
St. Paul’s Mt. Carmel).. 28s, 209 
St. Paul’s, Mt. Pleasant.. Me) 
St. Paul’s (Muhlenberg). . PEE eeOUD 
St. Paul’s (New Chester). 275 


St. Paul’s, New Cumberland... : “393 


Sta Paul’ 5. Newvillesee) ase A408 
pl. Pauls Salem). .e4 igen eee 548 
St. Paul’s (Seven Valleys)... ... 2056 
St Paulis!.s pring: Groves eee 973 
Sit Paul’s, (Sv Pamiise Meer iysss, 
St. Paul’s (West Fairview). aes: 438 
St. Paul’s (West Manheim)......286 
SU Paul say ork. .663 
St. Paul’s’ Auditorium, York... . .666 


st..Paul’s, York Haven.. ey 388) 
St. Peter’s (Muhlenberg). AY 
wt. Peters (Upper Frankford). pope 
St. Peter’s (Upper Frankford). . .427 


st. Peters.) Y orkies ten) apeneeaeee 669 
St. Stephen’s, New Kingston... .405 
Stuotephen’s: plone sins 
St. Thomas Lutheran........... 420 
‘Thomas, 1326 alin seen Sy aaN ee 289 
‘Lome, olin 5 ee ae ae ee paype§ 
Wraud. Walt else ree 603 
sareibley) DMB i ya) ae, see eee ADA 
cLrindle Springs Lutheran gan A424. 
Trinity, Arendtsville............199 
Drinity: Camps Fila ee eee 294 
irinity,:Ghaimnbersbursa. saeeres a 
Trinity sast:Berin Gere, eee 196 
Trinity, Fort Loudon... ae 421 
Trinity, Jetlersena 2 eee 187 
Ayinity,..Wemaster ss a ee 363 
‘irmity, Memoyne:..4..0 04 
Trinity Geven Valleys)... .. 7.563 
Trimty,. Mechanicsburg en eee oO 
Trinity,¢wWrightsyille. fe eee) oe 
‘Urinity ny ork. einer eee ee 671 


Trinity Parsonage, Camp Hill. . .295 


INDEX OP PICTURES 


Union, York, Chapel Interior... .677 
Union, York, S. S. Chapel and Ad- 


ministration Buidingh + oe 676 
Wagner Alpheus, Eon, i.4).2 e213 
gener va Dit rate e te OO 
Wremiere CsllNLON Listed oats oo. aco 662 
nyeener se Hdward 25. . 68s. h es col 
Pieroles tol inte Sear teh, reas 295 
peor ange oh Sen er knit ret Sa, Dae 
Nemerisenry Bbw poet ee. OUT 
Wolf, Sal ec, Ae ena Ket Aa a 470 


695 
DYIOUITOSS ele Fe ee Na re eee ire 267 
Zion Auditorium, Fairfield...... 21%, 
ZAO Lice CULO Le ae en ee te ee ele 
ZAOT Gs ALL 1G omens See eee rt os 
ZAC ClCDR ER OCKi cee ee et en, Cee 468 
Zions GOLOSDOrG tea ee eee 476 
ZiG A) CLLETSOM) eee ake wee ee A88 
Zions Newville oa. 4 ea 410 
ZION, StOUSHSEOWa eas 1 ek OL 
Z,TON YN OURS er ee eR Nach ete 681 


INDEX OF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 


ATIStaG Lely. nen ee weer wal ke 
Arnold, ‘Clarencé: Bites fers 670 
Baker, HalphieW 2 ise 5% opens: 211 
Bell? Albert. co. wean seen 649 
Bergstresser, Ralph H.......... ORV 
Berkey, Harvey. ie wena 4 ele 
Bickel, Harvey ze ny see Od 
Bower, Hin. fae see wae 600 
Bowersox, ‘(Georde ite, 2.43 eons 567 
Bowman, Earl Stet sane 218 
Brennemanyss Wiser: .a9t «eae 489 
Brown; James Allen... .6 43.0. soe 685 
Brown, Willian Ee... cae 657 
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